Teen affiliated with Jewish extremist group arrested for beating teacher during class

15-year-old allegedly punched his teacher in the stomach, knocking him to the ground.

By BEN HARTMAN
A wall at a bilingual Hebrew-Arabic school in Jerusalem reads "death to Arabs." (photo credit: ISRAEL FIRE AND RESUCE SERVICES)
A wall at a bilingual Hebrew-Arabic school in Jerusalem reads "death to Arabs."
(photo credit: ISRAEL FIRE AND RESUCE SERVICES)
A boy believed to be affiliated with the far-right Lehava group was arrested on Wednesday after severely beating a teacher during a class at a Petah Tikva high school.
According to Sharon subdistrict police, the teacher submitted a complaint a day earlier saying that during class, a 15-year-old student walked up to him and punched him in the stomach, knocking him to the ground. The student continued to kick him, police said, adding that the teen has confessed to the beating and that they are still trying to determine the background to the attack.
The teen was also arrested on November 21 for assaulting a police officer at a park in Petah Tikva. The officer had approached him because he was handing out handbills for Lehava along with a friend during a demonstration held by the group. Two officers were lightly injured during the incident; the teen was arrested along with another minor and a 22-yearold man.
Sharon police said Wednesday afternoon that while they cannot confirm that the teen is a member of the radical anti-assimilation organization, he was arrested at the event organized by it at which he was handing out fliers.
On Tuesday, 10 members of the anti-Arab group were arrested for incitement, including the group’s leader Bentzi Gopstein.
Last week, three members of the group were indicted for allegedly torching an integrated Jewish-Arab school in Jerusalem and spray-painting anti-Arab graffiti there.