The Shin Bet, Israel's internal intelligence agency, said today that the 25-year-old man, a resident of the same hardline West Bank settlement of Bat Ayin, acted out of "ideological" reasons and was arrested last month.
A statement says authorities became suspicious after troops were attacked while raiding Bat Ayin to arrest activists believed to have set fire to a mosque in a nearby Palestinian village. It says the activists knew of the operation ahead of time.