Police raided homes in Jerusalem, Beitar Illit, and central Israel on Sunday in a crackdown on the anti-assimilation group Lehava. Four members of the group were arrested.
Last week, police arrested 10 Lehava activists, including the group’s leader, Bentzi Gopstein. They were released on Friday, but police warned that they would face charges.
Lehava fights intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews in Israel, and in particular, marriage between Jewish women and Arab men. The group argues that Arab men are marrying Jewish women as part of a “silent Holocaust” in which Jewish identity is erased, and the next generation is raised as Muslim.
An estimated tens of thousands of Israeli Jewish women are in relationships with Arab Muslim men, anti-assimilation activists say. In contrast, marriages between Muslim women and Jewish men are virtually unheard-of, due in no small part to violent opposition to such marriages within the Muslim community.
Lehava came under scrutiny after several young activists were involved in violent attacks. Three Lehava activists were recently arrested for setting fire to a classroom in a mixed Jewish-Arab school. A short time later, a teenager who had volunteered with the group attacked his teacher during a class.
Police swooped in to detain members of the group. They are expected to face charges of incitement to commit acts of racially-motivated violence.