(AP)
Updated: 2007-09-09 21:54

Police discovered the skinhead ring after investigating the desecration of two synagogues - which were sprayed with swastikas - in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva more than a year ago, Rosenfeld said. Police computer experts have determined they maintained contacts with neo-Nazi groups abroad, and materials seized include a German-language video about neo-Nazis in the US.

Group members wore tattoos of Celtic crosses - a symbol adopted by white supremacists - and barbed wire fences, and the number "88," code for "Heil Hitler" because "h" is the eighth letter of the alphabet. Another tattoo proclaimed "White Power," and they were photographed giving the Nazi salute.

The group planned its attacks, and its targets were foreign workers from Asia, drug addicts, homosexuals, punks and Jews who wore skullcaps. In one case they discussed planning a murder, Rosenfeld said, without providing details. Some of the victims filed official complaints with police, and other victims were identified after police viewed the films and photos.

"The level of violence was outrageous," Maj. Revital Almog, who investigated the case, told Israel's Army Radio.

Police identified the group leader as Eli Boanitov, 19, of Petah Tikva - known as "Eli the Nazi." Gang members were arrested in recent days, and a gag order on the case was lifted early Sunday.

"I won't ever give up, I was a Nazi and I will stay a Nazi, until we kill them all I will not rest," Boanitov was quoted as saying by a police statement.

In the past, there have been only isolated cases of neo-Nazi activity in Israel. "This is the first time that we've ... arrested such a large number of individuals who are part of an organized neo-Nazi group," Rosenfeld said.

Under Israeli law, a person can claim citizenship if a parent or grandparent has Jewish roots. Authorities say that formulation allowed many Soviets with questionable ties to Judaism to immigrate here after the Soviet Union disintegrated. About 1 million Soviets moved here in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

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