Israel orders Jewish extremist jailed for 6 months without charges, trial following attacks

Head of a Jewish extremist group Meir Ettinger appears in court in Nazareth Illit , Israel, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015. Israel said Tuesday it was interrogating the suspected head of a Jewish extremist group in the first arrest of an Israeli suspect following last week's arson attack in the West Bank that killed a Palestinian toddler and wounded his brother and parents. According to the Shin Bet security agency, 23-year-old Ettinger was arrested late Monday for "involvement in an extremist Jewish organization." (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) (The Associated Press)

In this Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015 photo, a Palestinian villager stands guard in front of graffiti depicting late Yasser Arafat and Arabic that reads "the mountain is not shaken by the wind," at the entrance of the West Bank village of al-Jab'a, near Bethlehem. The Residents of the village formed groups of defense volunteers to guard themselves from attacks of Israeli settlers. While the village's mosque was vandalized and torched by Israeli extremists earlier this year, tensions rose higher this week after suspected Jewish assailants set fire to a West Bank home and burned a sleeping Palestinian toddler to death and left his family seriously wounded. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser) (The Associated Press)

In this Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015 photo, Palestinian villagers stand guard at the entrance of the West Bank village of al-Jab'a, near Bethlehem. The Residents of the village formed groups of defense volunteers to guard themselves from attacks of Israeli settlers. While the village's mosque was vandalized and torched by Israeli extremists earlier this year, tensions rose higher this week after suspected Jewish assailants set fire to a West Bank home and burned a sleeping Palestinian toddler to death and left his family seriously wounded. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser) (The Associated Press)

Israel's defense minister has signed an order that will keep a Jewish extremist in jail for six months without charges or trial.

The measure, known as administrative detention, usually sees Palestinian prisoners jailed for months or years without trial.

This is the first time Israel placed an Israeli under administrative detention since it launched a crackdown on Jewish militants following a pair of deadly attacks last week.

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon's office said in a statement late Tuesday that Mordechai Meyer was arrested in connection with "violent activities and recent terror attacks."

Last week, suspected Jewish extremists torched a West Bank home, killing a Palestinian toddler and severely wounding his family a day after an anti-gay ultra-Orthodox man stabbed revelers at Jerusalem's Gay Pride parade, killing a 16-year-old girl.