Suspect to remain in custody over fires started near PM’s home during hostage protest

A 60-year-old man arrested on suspicion of setting fire to several trash bins during a hostage protest in Jerusalem will remain in detention for another five days, police announced Thursday morning.

Officers brought Amos Doron, a resident of Ramat Gan and lieutenant colonel in the reserves, to the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court, where he was ordered to remain in police custody until September 8.

Doron was arrested the day before over fires started near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in the upscale Rehavia neighborhood, which destroyed a car and forced residents to evacuate their homes.

Police presented the presiding judge with footage of Doron at the scene of the incident, claiming he was in disguise when he set the fire, according to the Kan public broadcaster.

Doron reportedly denied the allegations against him but admitted that he was in Jerusalem at the time the fire started, stating he traveled to the capital for personal matters unrelated to the protest movement.

At around the same time as the blaze in Rehavia, another masked activist set fire to a pile of tires near the Prime Minister’s Office in the capital’s Givat Ram neighborhood.

Police arrested an 83-year-old man on suspicion of causing the blazes, but released him to house arrest after searching his home and finding no incriminating evidence.

No injuries were reported in either incident.

Hostage families and organizers of Wednesday’s demonstrations disavowed the fires, but Netanyahu and his allies were quick to link the blazes to the protest, with the premier accusing the protesters of acting “exactly like fascists.”

In the wake of the incident, a group of protesters set up a fundraising page for the family whose car was consumed by the blazes, and within a few hours, NIS 200,000 had been raised, more than enough to cover the cost of a new car.

Meanwhile, another protester arrested Wednesday, who allegedly lit a smoke bomb atop the National Library after climbing on the building’s roof, was ordered held in custody until Thursday evening.

Police, who sought to keep the demonstrator in detention for another six days, announced their intention to appeal the ruling.

The suspect went up to the roof with 12 other protesters, who were released hours after their arrest.

The group hung massive banners from the library building denouncing Netanyahu and accusing him of abandoning the hostages due to the government’s perceived foot-dragging in negotiations for the captives’ release.