Israeli security agents arrested two more right-wing Jews Tuesday as part of the promised crackdown on Jewish extremists after an arson attack killed a Palestinian toddler in his bed last week.
None of the three extremists arrested since Monday have been directly linked to the West Bank firebombing that left other family members severely burned. But they all are suspected of ties to other violent crimes, including church arson.
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon signed an order placing one of the extremists in administrative detention, meaning he can be held as long as six months without charges.
Another suspect is Meir Ettinger, grandson of the Meir Kahane - the far-right wing rabbi who demanded all Arabs and Palestinians get out of Israel. Kahane was shot to death in New York in 1990.
Ettinger wrote in an Internet blog last month that there is no Jewish terrorist group, "but there are lots and lots of Jews," who are not bound by Israeli law but by "laws that are much more eternal and real."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he was "shocked" by the Palestinian baby's death
"No law is above the country's laws. Whoever breaks them, whoever champions hate crimes, whoever carries out violence, whoever carries out terror, we will act against them with all the weight of the law," he said Tuesday.
Palestinian leaders have blamed the Israeli government for encouraging Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, saying it foments hatred of Arabs. Israel defends settlements as essential to its security.
Also last week, a far-right Jew stabbed six people at a gay pride march in Jerusalem. One victim, a 16 year-old girl, died Sunday. The suspect had just been released from jail for a similar attack on another gay rights march in 2005.
