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'Price tag, King David is for the Jews, Jesus is garbage' graffiti on Jerusalem church, May 9, 2014. Photo by AFP


Two of the detainees, both minors, are being held under a special order that prevents them from meeting with their attorneys.

By Chaim Levinson and Nir Hasson for Haaretz

The Shin Bet has arrested three well-known right-wing activists, two of them minors, on suspicion of involvement in recent hate crimes against Arabs within the Green Line.

Two of the detainees are being held under a special order that prevents them from meeting with their attorneys, while the order covering the third has expired.

According to the Shin Bet, it has "begun arresting and questioning radical activists suspected of involvement in a number of hate crimes, including some of the recent incidents within the Green Line. The purpose is to clarify whether the suspects committed ideologically based acts, that have become known as 'price tag.'"

The first two suspects, one an adult from a settlement in the Lachish region and the other a minor from another West Bank settlement, were arrested on Sunday. The adult was arrested in the past for phoning the home of GOC Central Command Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon and arranging a meeting with his son.

The third suspect, also a minor, was arrested on Wednesday and is currently under house arrest. He, too, has been prevented from meeting with his attorney and has been documenting his period under arrest on his Facebook page. In the past he was prevented from entering the West Bank by administrative order.

The suspects are being represented by attorneys Barak Friedman and Adi Kedar of the Honenu legal aid organization. Kedar told Haaretz that the attorneys "take a very dim view of the radical measure used to prevent detainees from meeting with their attorneys, particularly when it's done for reasons of political expediency and public pressure, rather than for legal reasons."

A Jerusalem policeman also arrested a Jewish minor on Wednesday night after she drew the slogans "price tag" and "Nachman Meuman" in chalk on a sidewalk in the center of the city. A man who attempted to prevent the arrest was himself detained.

There have been a number of similar incidents in Jerusalem in recent weeks. About three weeks ago, two girls were detained on suspicion that they had written "price tag" on the walls of a Muslim cemetery near the Temple Mount using sand and stones.

During Pesach, two minors were arrested on suspicion of hanging signs at the entrance to the Temple Mount which said that the place was closed to Muslims due to "the construction of the temple."