Israel jails soldier and Jewish militant

JERUSALEM - Israel has jailed its first reservist for refusing military duty in protest at plans to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and has detained a right-wing militant until after the pullout, officials said.  

Arkadi Moter, a Jewish settler, was jailed for 21 days by the army for refusing a call-up for reserve duty in protest at the evacuation of 21 settlements in Gaza and four in the northern West Bank later this year.  

Another settler was arrested on Sunday and sent to prison until the end of September under an administrative detention order signed by Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz, security officials said. Such orders are usually used to incarcerate Palestinians suspected of militant activities.  

Israeli media reports identified him as Niria Ofen, a settler from Yitzhar which is regarded as a hotbed for Jewish militancy.  

Israel's Haaretz website said he was suspected of "violent, illegal activity, including terrorism". It added that in 1998, he was placed under restrictions by the Shin Bet security service due to fears he planned to harm Palestinians. 

The army said it had jailed reservist Moter from the West Bank settlement of Ofra because "he refused to show up for reserve duty under the pretext that service would contribute to the implementation of the evacuation from Gaza". 

The case, the first time a soldier has been jailed for refusing service over the withdrawal, underscores mounting concern of a mutiny in military ranks over the planned pullout which Jewish settlers and their supporters have vowed to resist.  

Ruchie Avital, a spokeswoman at Ofra, called Moter "the first to pay the price" of protest against the withdrawal from land which settlers claim as a biblical birthright.  

Jewish settlers have said thousands of supporters who serve in the army reserves will defy orders to carry out the Gaza "disengagement" due to begin in August. In February, activists said they had collected 10,000 signatures on a letter refusing reserve duty.  

However, the military said Moter's case was an isolated incident.  

"This is not a vast phenomenon. It is a very marginal thing and we are not expecting mass refusals," the spokesman said.  

Revolt is rare in Israel's army. Men and women are conscripted at the age of 18 and many later serve in the reserves.  

In January, the army dismissed six reservist officers who had threatened to disobey a pullout order. It also jailed a conscript soldier for 28 days after he urged comrades to defy an order to remove a Jewish settler outpost in the West Bank.  

- REUTERS