Prosecutors appeal release of activist who allegedly torched dumpster near PM’s home last month

State prosecutors file an appeal to the Supreme Court against the release of one of the four anti-government activists detained for setting fire to dumpsters near the prime minister’s residence early last month.

Mark Foigel, 57, will appear tomorrow afternoon before Justice Daphne Barak-Erez. The three other defendants were released from Hadarim Prison last night, after the Jerusalem District Court ordered them to supervised house arrest.

Foigel is accused of having organized a plan to light a “ring of fire” around Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem during a day of mass protest calling for a hostage deal. He and his three alleged accomplices had been held in detention for a number of weeks.

The defendants’ lawyers have denounced prosecutors’ efforts to keep their clients in custody as a politically motivated step, and their prolonged detention has sparked several demonstrations outside the prison where they were held.

In the district court hearing earlier this week, prosecutors characterized Foigel as the “dominant actor” in the plot, who recruited the three other defendants to torch trash bins the morning of September 3. They argued that the incident was not a “standard arson case,” insisting that it was meticulously planned. One of the fires spread, destroying a car and forcing locals to evacuate, but caused no injuries.

On Sunday, Foigel’s attorney Gaby Lasky accused police  of selective enforcement against anti-Netanyahu protesters, referencing the frequent torching of dumpsters by Haredi protesters during anti-draft demonstrations, as well as targeted arson attacks against Palestinian property by extremist settlers in the West Bank.