Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Shin Bet Suspects Jewish Terror Network in Attack That Killed Palestinian Baby

Israel’s Shin Bet said it believes the deadly firebombing of a Palestinian home in the West Bank is the work of a Jewish terrorist network that has been operating since 2013.

Officials with the security agency said Monday that the network seeks to eliminate the practice of all religions other than Judaism in Israel, spark conflict at the Temple Mount, drive non-Jews out of Israel and replace the secular Israeli system of government with a Jewish theocracy, according to media reports.

The Shin Bet believes the network was also behind the June arson attack on the historic Church of the Multiplication in northern Israel, near the Sea of Galilee.

The agency shared information about a Jewish terrorism how-to manual it discovered recently in the car of Moshe Orbach, 24, who was among those arrested in the Church of the Multiplication fire. Orbach is believed to be the author of the manual, titled “Kingdom of Evil,” which shares detailed instructions for attacking mosques, churches and Palestinian homes, along with tips on how to beat Palestinians to the point of unconsciousness.

Charged with incitement to violence and terrorism, Orbach was released on Sunday to house arrest.

According to Haaretz, at the network’s center are several dozen young people based in the West Bank who initially were focused on stopping the government from evacuating illegal settlement outposts.

Israel’s security Cabinet on Sunday authorized the Shin Bet to use “all means at their disposal” to find the perpetrators of the firebombing, which killed a Palestinian toddler and severely injured several family members, and to prevent similar attacks.

Next: Israel to allow tougher interrogation of Jewish terrorism suspects >

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:

  • Credit the Forward
  • Retain our pixel
  • Preserve our canonical link in Google search
  • Add a noindex tag in Google search

See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.