Investigators into the arson attack in the Palestinian village of Douma last week believe that the perpetrators are affiliated with the same group that has torched mosques, churches and Palestinian homes over the past year.
It is believed that the group, Jewish extremists known as “price tag” activists - who previously focused on stopping the evacuation of settlements – have now turned their attention to overthrowing the government in order to establish a new regime based on Jewish law.
This switch to more extreme, violent methods was first identified by the Shin Bet security service and the Israel Police late last year.
Following Friday’s fatal “price tag” attack – so-called because settlers extract a “price” from Palestinians when the Israeli government acts against them - Israel’s security cabinet on Sunday approved the jailing Jewish militants suspected of attacking Palestinians without trial.
A statement released by the security cabinet approved the extension of “administrative detention" – by which Palestinian militant suspects are detained without trial in the absence of sufficient evidence to prosecute – to violent Jewish ultra-nationalists.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to crack down on “terror” , saying: “The State of Israel deals forcefully with terror, regardless of who the perpetrators are.”
