Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Extremist Jews in West Bank Firebomb Murders Won’t Get To See Lawyers

Three Jews suspected of involvement in an arson attack that killed three members of a West Bank Palestinian family can be prevented from meeting with their attorneys, Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled.

Salim Joubran, an Arab-Israeli justice, wrote in the decision Sunday that a meeting could disrupt the investigation of the July 31 firebombing in the village of Duma that killed an 18-month-old boy and his parents, and seriously burnt their 4-year-old son. Attorneys for the detainees had argued that their clients were not a risk to the public or a “ticking bomb.”

The case is under a gag order.

The suspects, two of them minors, reportedly were arrested by the Shin Bet security service over the last month. Involving their attorneys would harm the investigation, the Shin Bet claims, and could prevent the arrest of additional suspects.

Days after the attack, Israel’s Security Cabinet authorized the Shin Bet to use “all means at their disposal” to find the perpetrators of the firebombing.

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 credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link 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.