Jerusalem Men Arrested As Separate Probe of Underground Continues

Israeli police this week arrested two residents of the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City on suspicion of stealing weapons and other equipment from the army.

The men arrested Thursday, brothers Hananel and Gabi She’ar Yashuv, 21 and 18, are both members of the Israel Defense Force’s elite Golani Brigade.

Senior police officers said that the brothers are not connected with the violent right-wing Jewish underground suspected of planning violent attacks against Arabs.

Earlier this month, the General Security Services arrested at least nine members of the underground, most of whom are from the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba.

This week, security authorities arrested another suspected member of the underground, Rabbi Meir Koren, 28, a teacher living in Kiryat Arba.

Meanwhile, Lt. Ya’acov Pinto was released from custody Wednesday after being held for 10 days in jail.

He had been suspected of turning over explosives to Lt. Oren Edri, the first person detained in the right-wing conspiracy case.

Also on Wednesday, brothers Eitan and Yehoyada Kahalani, who also were suspected of participation in the underground terrorist organization, were ordered detained for an additional eight days by the Haifa Magistrate’s Court.

Elsewhere in the West Bank, some 20 demonstrators were detained and four wounded when Jewish settlers attempted to storm the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, which has remained closed since the Feb. 25 Hebron massacre.

The clash between the demonstrators and Israeli security forces began when thousands of Jews from Hebron and neighboring Kiryat Arba marched on the cave to hold a prayer meeting and demonstration inside the cave in defiance of army orders.

The disturbance was not quelled until nightfall, when police herded the demonstrators onto buses.

The Tomb of the Patriarchs has undergone a series of recent renovations designed to increase security at the site, which is holy to Jews and Muslims alike.