Military investigators have arrested a paratrooper, a member of the 890th Battalion suspected of passing information regarding planned IDF anti-outposts operations to the hilltop youths command post.

An indictment was handed down earlier in the week against Akiva Cohen, Elad Meir, Ephraim Chaiken and Meir Ettinger for their alleged involvement in the break-in into the IDF’s Ephraim Command Base. Another arrest was made in that case this morning as well, Wednesday, January 11, 2012; a 22-year-old Jerusalem resident was taken into custody. There appears to be an effort to tie the paratrooper to this event as well.

Many suspects were arrested in connection to the attack against the Ephraim Base but to date most have been released without being charged due to lack of evidence.

The soldier in custody is a resident of a Shomron community and he has already been remanded for an additional 48 hours, with the court deciding to provide investigators with additional time to build the case against him, a standard move in the judicial system that is not indicative of his guilt. The soldier has not been cooperating with investigators, maintaining his innocence, denying the all accusations against him.

The soldier is being represented by an attorney from the Honenu human rights organization, with an organization official telling the media that at present, there is simply no evidence against his client. Honenu adds that “We hope the investigation will reveal that the soldier was only engaged in operational activities throughout Yehuda and Shomron, nothing more”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)