Fourteen ultra-Othodox boys aged 13-14 have been arrested in Jerusalem on charges of "price-tag" revenge crimes against Arabs. The Jerusalem police division for nationalist crimes recently arrested the 14 suspects, all yeshiva students from the haredi neighborhood of Shmuel Hanavi who are reportedly known to their teachers and peers as delinquents. In recent months the boys allegedly acted together as an organized gang whose goal was to hurt Arabs and damage their property out of hatred and as revenge for terror attacks on Jews. The police believe they were involved in at least 20 separate incidents. The gang was exposed following last week's arrest of two minors suspected of vandalizing cars in Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. The pair were caught red-handed by detectives from the nationalist crime unit who were patrolling the area as part of their intelligence crackdown on price-tag crimes. During their questioning, the pair implicated their friends. All of the suspects allegedly confessed during their questioning that over the last few months they had engaged in attacks. Among others, they attacked Arab drivers on Bar Lev Boulevard, threw rocks at Egged buses after noticing that their drivers were Arab, threw rocks at Arab buses, set fire to an Arab-owned car in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, threw rocks at other Arab vehicles and punctured tires. All of the suspects were arraigned in recent days. Four of them were released due to their young age. Police say the investigation is continuing and that they expect additional arrests. The suspects are represented by attorneys David Halevi. Avihai Hanegbi, Naftali Warzberger and Itamar Ben-Gvir, from the right-wing organization Honenu. "We're talking about young boys," Ben-Gvir said. "The police violated their civil rights and did not allow their parents to be present, in violation of the youth laws. I have no doubt that if the suspects had been Arabs, the country would be in an uproar."
14 Jerusalem youths arrested over attacks on Arabs and property
The boys, all aged 13-14, are accused of involvement in at least 20 nationalistically motivated crimes • The suspects, residents of a haredi neighborhood, have allegedly confessed to the charges.
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