Israeli police arrested a U.S.-born rabbi for inciting Palestinians.
Police say Rabbi Arik Ascherman, the executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights, has encouraged Palestinians to confront police securing archaeological digs in Silwan, an Arab neighborhood adjacent to Jerusalem’s Old City.
They also say Ascherman kept a wounded Jewish settler in the neighborhood from being evacuated. Ascherman denies the charges.
Ascherman was arrested Thursday after he refused a police demand to keep away from the area for 15 days.
The residents say the digs threaten the foundation of their homes; additionally, according to the Ha’aretz newspaper, the digs are sponsored by Elad, a group that sponsors the expansion of Jewish settlement in neighborhoods like Silwan. Similar digs have in the past preceded the building of homes for Jewish settlers.
