BICOM

Three residents of the Gilad Farm outpost in the West Bank were charged yesterday with having carried out a ‘Price Tag’ attack in November.

‘Price Tag’ attacks, acts of vandalism against Palestinian property by those opposed to curbs on settlement building, have typically been perpetrated in response to Israeli government restrictions on settlement activity. The Shin Bet domestic security agency yesterday announced that the three men are accused of having entered the Palestinian village of Far’ata during the night of 19 November last year, torching two vehicles and spray-painting Stars of David on walls in the village.

An indictment for hate crimes against the three men, Yehuda Landsberg, Binyamin Richter and Yehuda Sabir, was submitted to the Central District Court. It stated that “All their activities were performed out of nationalist motives and out of hostility toward the Arab public.” Police also uncovered evidence that the three suspects could have been involved in illegal activity in the Palestinian village of Madama.

Meanwhile, an indictment was filed yesterday in the Jerusalem District Court against four Palestinians from East Jerusalem who had planned a large-scale shooting at a Jerusalem wedding hall. Apparently, three of the men drove to the hall in the Bayit Vegan neighbourhood in December to help plan the attack and then approached a Palestinian arms dealer who had agreed to sell them two Uzi sub-machine guns. Two of the suspects planned to dress as ultra-Orthodox Jews and enter the venue during a wedding or other celebration, concealing the firearms under their clothing. They then planned to open fire on guests. The four suspects, all aged between 19 and 21, were charged yesterday with conspiracy to aid an enemy in wartime.

Last month, the Shin Bet announced that it had arrested two Palestinians from East Jerusalem who had been recruited by an al-Qaeda activist in Gaza to carry out large-scale bombings on high-profile targets in Israel.