- Title: ISRAEL: Israeli police arrest suspected neo-Nazis
- Date: 9th September 2007
- Summary: JERUSALEM (SEPTEMBER 9, 2007) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICKY ROSENFELD, POLICE FOREIGN PRESS SPOKESMAN, SAYING: "All of the individuals that have been arrested are from Russia, they moved to Israel over the last several years being between the ages of 16 and 21. They are in fact not Jewish, however, they came to Israel based on the law of return as their family, grandparents or great grandparents were Jewish."
- Embargoed: 24th September 2007 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Israel
- Country: Israel
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVALIKEGIS4CEM6J3H0JLCTP6A7
- Story Text: Israeli police arrest eight youths on suspicion of belonging to a neo-Nazi cell. Police say the youths attacked foreign workers, Asians and religious Jews.
Israeli police announced on Sunday (September 9) they arrested members of an alleged neo-Nazi cell who had allegedly assaulted religious Jews, vandalised synagogues, and swore allegiance to Adolph Hitler.
Police said that the group was comprised of eight young men, ages 16-21, all of whom immigrated to the Jewish State from the former Soviet Union, but were not considered Jewish according to religious law.
"All of the individuals that have been arrested are from Russia, they moved to Israel over the last several years being between the ages of 16 and 21. They are, in fact, not Jewish, however they came to Israel based on the law of return as their family, grandparents or great grandparents were Jewish," said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.
Rosenfeld said that the group carried out attacks on foreigners, Asians, and religious Jews, and added that the group had "strong ties and connections to other neo-Nazi groups active in Germany and other places abroad."
During the investigation, police also found explosives and a makeshift handgun in one of the suspect's homes, as well as videos and photos of them assaulting a drug addict on a Tel Aviv street and making him beg for forgiveness.
Rosenfeld said that the youths all immigrated under the Israeli Law of Return giving them citizenship in the Jewish State because at least one of their grandparents was Jewish, but were not Jewish themselves.
At a court hearing Sunday in Ramle, Israel, some of the suspects, who shielded their faces from cameras, said they were Jewish.
"Yes. My mother is Jewish," one man said.
"My father is a Jew," another man said.
A public defender for one of the suspects said his client denied the charges brought against him.
Rosenfeld said the suspects are being charged with "causing bodily harm to individuals, and sabotage to synagogues.
Israeli police said one suspect fled Israel early in the investigation. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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