Israel Police arrested, interrogated, and later released a well-known rabbi alongside another individual for inciting and encouraging violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, police said Wednesday.
The police did not share the identity of the two who were investigated.
The Prosecutor's Office approved their arrest as part of a joint investigation by detectives from Sha'ar District Central Unit and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) due to suspicions that the two “spread inciting and extremist messages that encourage serious violence against Palestinians.”
This was part of a larger investigation centered around serious extremist violence and arson attacks that were carried out in Burkin, located near Jenin, after the terrorist attack in which Tzeela Gez and her then-unborn son were killed, the police said.
Both suspects encouraged, praised, and supported the violence against Palestinians in social media posts.
Fighting, arson in Palestinian village after terror attack
The riots that sparked the investigation were performed by Jewish extremists who set fire to a house and attacked several villagers near Burkin, according to reports by Army Radio.
In one instance, a group of Israelis reportedly threw stones and set fire to five homes and five vehicles on the outskirts of the village, the Palestinian Authority-run news agency WAFA said.
Rioters also damaged a mosque, set fire to a vehicle, and sprayed graffiti in the town of Akraba, southeast of Nablus in the West Bank, Israel’s public broadcaster KAN said.