Shin Bet says settler arrested for torching Palestinian car

The Shin Bet security agency says a 22-year-old settler has been arrested for an alleged hate crime against Palestinians earlier this month.

According to the Shin Bet, on January 2, Israeli troops were called to respond to an incident of stone-throwing by Palestinians against Israeli cars on the Route 60 highway, near the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya.

While the soldiers were trying to locate the Palestinians, an Israeli man from the settlement of Ma’ale Efraim arrived in the Palestinian town and set fire to a vehicle, the Shin Bet charges.

“This is an act that harms the military force’s ability to carry out its mission and may even endanger it,” the agency says.

The Shin Bet says the 22-year-old was previously known to security forces.

An indictment charging him with a racially motivated hate crime will be filed in the coming days.

“Taking the law into one’s own hands and carrying out attacks and hate crimes, especially when these are done against uninvolved Palestinians, harms the security of the region, expands the circle of terror, and interferes with the efforts of the security forces against Palestinian terrorism,” the Shin Bet adds.