The head of the Lehava anti-assimilation group was questioned by the Judea and Samaria District Police on Tuesday for alleged incitement. Accompanied by his lawyer, known right-wing activist Itamar Ben-Gvir, Benzion Gopstein reported to the Judea and Samaria District Police headquarters in Maaleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem, where he was questioned for several hours over statements he recently made endorsing the burning of churches across Israel. The statements were made during a conference held at the Wolfson Yeshiva in the southern town of Yeruham. On a tape of the conference, the leader of the far-right group is heard answering a question from the audience about whether he supports church burning in Israel. "Of course, there's no question about it," Gopstein is heard saying. Warned by a member of the audience that such statements could find their way to the police, Gopstein said, "I'm willing to serve 50 years in prison." Several police complaints were filed against Gopstein following his statement, and the Custody of the Holy Land, the Vatican's representative body in Israel, filed an official appeal with Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein, asking him to order an incitement probe against Gopstein. Under Israeli law the attorney general must approve any incitement investigation, as well as any pursuant indictment. Gopstein called a press conference following his police interrogation, in which he leveled harsh criticism at Israeli law enforcement agencies. "I feel like I'm the subject of a witch hunt. The Israel Police -- under the Vatican's orders -- are questioning me about something I said. I think the police have to realize that when speaking at a closed conference in a yeshiva, one can speak the words of the Torah," he said. "Once people feel there's no freedom of speech, that they can't speak, it reaches those boys and they do things. If you don't want 'price-tag' acts, let us speak," Gopstein said, referring to Judea and Samaria's "hilltop youth," the hard-line, nationalist young people who are often implicated in vandalizing Palestinian property. Ben-Gvir told reporters his client's interrogation represented "crossing a red line for any Israeli who cherishes democracy. This is a terrible infringement on freedom of speech. People are getting arrested for their opinions. No one can say Israel doesn't have thought police."
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Lehava leader faces incitement probe for backing church burnings
Anti-assimilation group director Benzion Gopstein questioned by Judea and Samaria District Police after endorsing the burning of churches in Israel • "I feel like I'm the subject of a witch hunt," he says • His lawyer warns Israel has "thought police."