Four Israeli Youths Arrested in Connection with Attacks on Christian, Moslem Religious Sites

Jerusalem police announced today the arrests of four ultra-religious Israeli youths who they say are responsible for the series of bomb and grenade attacks on Christian and Moslem religious sites in Jerusalem and on the West Bank in recent months. The accused were identified as the brothers Avi and Ami Darei, their cousin, David Darei, and Uri Ben-Ayun. According to the police, they comprise the group calling itself “Terror Against Terror” (TNT), which has claimed responsiblity for most of the attacks. Ben-Ayun was described as the leader.

NOT CONNECTED WITH OTHER GROUPS

Jerusalem Police Commissioner Rahamim Comfort insisted that the four had acted alone and were in no way connected with any political or other groups. He specifically ruled out any link between the “TNT” and four Orthodox Jews, recent immigrants from the U.S., who were arrested two weeks ago for the ambush attack on a bus carrying Arab day workers from the West Bank to their jobs in Israel.

There also is no connection between them and another group of ultra-religious Jews awaiting trial for an attempt to blow up the El Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount, Comfort said. The fact that the four youths had no outside connecttions made it all the more difficult to track them down, the police commissioner said.

The Army Radio described them as “hozrim beteshuva” — religious penitents — whose beliefs prompted them to attack non-Jewish religious sites and institutions. According to the Army Radio, they took drugs to enhance their religious experiences.

All are residents of Ein Karem, a western suburb of Jerusalem, where booby-trapped hand grenades had been found at several churches and monasteries. Churches and mosques in other parts of the city and on the West Bank were also attacked. In one incident, a monk was shot.

The police said the accused have admitted to 12 attacks during the last quarter of 1983 and reenacted nine of them in the presence of police interrogators over the weekend.

ARREST CREDITED TO SPECIAL DETECTIVE SQUAD

Their arrest was credited to a special detective squad set up last December by Deputy Capt. Shimon Tal. They were caught when they disclosed their activities to an undercover police agent who had gained their confidence by selling them drugs.

According to Comfort, the latest arrests and the arrests of other religious zealots account for most of the terrorist acts against non-Jews in Jerusalem and its environs in recent months. Only one similar crime remains unsolved — the arson that destroyed a Baptist church in the Rehavia district of Jerusalem last year.