2 Jewish extremist teens charged in arson attack on Bedouin tent

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Two Jewish extremist teens were indicted in an arson attack on a Bedouin tent in the West Bank.

Avi Gafni, 19, and a minor were indicted on charges of incitement, threats, conspiring to commit a felony and obstructing justice in the mid-August attack , the Shin Bet security service said in a statement after a gag order on the case was lifted Monday.

Gafni, originally of Beit Shemesh, is “a violent ‘hilltop youth’ activist and a member of a Jewish terror group, which is behind the attack,” according to the Shin Bet, which noted that he has been ordered by the military several times to stay away from the West Bank after being suspected of involvement in other attacks.

Graffiti spray-painted on a rock near the burned-down tent, which was used for storage and unoccupied at the time of the attack, included a Star of David and the words “administrative revenge,” which could have referred to the recent administrative detention orders for three suspected Jewish extremists arrested after the deadly July 31 arson attack on a West Bank Palestinian home.

Under administrative detention, prisoners can remain in custody for up to six months without a hearing or charges, renewable indefinitely. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners remain in administrative detention in Israeli prisons.