Will arrest of key rightist further inflame settler extremism?

Ariel Gruner is a familiar sight to all the judges, lawyers and Shin Bet security service agents who deal with cases involving suspected right-wing extremists: Anytime someone is brought to court for right-wing activity, Gruner is there too - to counsel the detainees on their rights, arrange money for bail, or find host families for those put under house arrest.

The charismatic 27-year-old, who was born in Australia but moved to Israel as a baby, has become one of the most prominent figures on the far right. The scion of a well-known Chabad family that traces itself back to the movement's founder, Gruner studied in Rabbi Yitzhak Ginzburg's Od Yosef Chai yeshiva (originally located in Nablus, but relocated when the second intifada began) and now lives on Hill 725 - an outpost of the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar - with his wife and three children.

He is a key activist in Honenu, an organization that provides legal assistance to right-wing activists facing legal proceedings; hence his courtroom appearances. He is also a leader in the battle against outpost evacuations, and has himself been slapped with four separate administrative orders restricting his movements.

The first, which placed him in administrative detention for a month and a half, was issued on July 11, 2006, the day before the Second Lebanon War began. The reasons, as always, were classified, but in rejecting his appeal against the order, the Supreme Court wrote that he was "a member of an illegal organization" whose goal was to disrupt the evacuation of West Bank settlements and outposts; was involved in "illegal, violent activity that endangers national security" and entails "a real threat" to human life; and was suspected of training others to engage in similar violent, illegal activity.

Upon his release from administrative detention, Gruner was slapped with another order confining him to Rotem, a small community in the northern Jordan Valley. The next order barred him from the entire West Bank. The latest, issued last week - and delivered, like the others, while he was in court to aid another detainee - bars him from all of the West Bank except Ariel for the next six months.

A thorn in Shin Bet's side

Gruner's criminal record consists solely of a minor conviction for interfering with a policeman during the evacuation of the Havat Gilad outpost in 2002. Whatever information led to the accusations detailed in the Supreme Court's 2006 ruling on his detention remains classified; the Shin Bet, when asked by Haaretz, merely reiterated that he was involved in "carrying out and leading violent, illegal activity" that endangers the public and threatens national security.

His friends and acquaintances are convinced that no further details were forthcoming because none exist. They say Gruner has never been involved in any violent activity and claim the real reason for the administrative restrictions stem from his work with Honenu.

"His activity in Honenu has become a thorn in the Shin Bet's side," said Itamar Ben-Gvir, another right-wing activist. "He's screwed up several investigations for them ... They're simply persecuting him. If they had any material on him regarding underground activity, I'm certain they would have filed indictments."

Attorney Naftali Werzberger, who represents many right-wing suspects and thus encounters Gruner frequently in court, agrees. "I can tell you from intimate acquaintance that this boy is not involved in the underground business," Werzberger said. "He's a grassroots leadership figure and that's the Shin Bet's angle in this matter."

Gruner himself, however, attributes the Shin Bet's focus on him to his activity against outpost evacuations. He believes the state is gearing up to evacuate more outposts and therefore wants him out of the way.

The Shin Bet termed this claim "utterly baseless." Still, one can see why anyone planning an evacuation would want him out of the way. Two months ago, for instance, the army reached an agreement with settlement leaders on the voluntary removal of three caravans from the tiny settlement of Bnei Adam. But then Gruner arrived, convinced the residents to oppose the deal and spent the next few days there organizing the youth to put up a struggle that proved a headache for the settlement leaders.

But regardless of motive, another question remains: whether the latest restrictions against him might actually inflame the situation rather than calming it. Just last week, for instance, Gruner's younger brother Elhanan was arrested for protesting these restrictions outside of Deputy State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan's Jerusalem home.