Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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September 9, 2007

Israeli Police Arrest Neo-Nazi Gang
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1957DE1:A6F02AD83191E1606DAB684999A98C8D9574F7DCC14957C0 Police say a group
of neo-Nazis is responsible for a wave of attacks on Orthodox Jews,
synagogues and gays The arrest of a neo-Nazi gang in Israel has
sparked shock and outrage. As Robert Berger reports from VOA's
Jerusalem bureau, the news has brought calls for Israel to tighten its
immigration laws.







Jewish worshippers in prayer shawls look at a swastika sprayed inside
the Grand Synagogue in the central Israeli town of Petah Tikva near
Tel Aviv, in this Thursday, 04 May 2006 file photoIsraeli police say
they arrested a gang of eight neo-Nazis responsible for a wave of
attacks on Orthodox Jews, synagogues and gays. The suspects were
identified as immigrants from the former Soviet Union who are not
Jewish. Police described the young men as skinheads wearing tattoos of
Nazi symbols.

The arrests came as a shock in Israel, which was established as a
refuge from the Holocaust.

Rabbi Avraham Dolberg heads a synagogue in the city of Petah Tikva
that was allegedly desecrated by the gang.

The rabbi told Israel Radio he never thought he would see a synagogue
and prayer books daubed with swastikas in the Jewish state. He said
those images were reminiscent of the persecution of the Jews in Nazi
Germany during World War II.

The Russian-born mother of one of the suspects, identified as Ina,
denied that her son is a neo-Nazi.

"It is politics," she said, adding that there are no neo-Nazis in
Israel. She said her son and his friends were targeted by police
because they have tattoos, but she said there is no evidence they
committed a crime.

The case has brought calls for stricter immigration controls. Under
Israeli law, a person can claim citizenship if a parent or grandparent
has Jewish roots. But critics say that has allowed many people from
the former Soviet Union, with questionable ties to Judaism, to
immigrate to Israel.

Cabinet Minister Meir Sheetrit told Israel Radio that the citizenship
of the suspects should be revoked. He said there is no room for
anti-Semitism in the Jewish state.




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