Eight Israeli youths have been arrested and accused of being in a neo-Nazi gang that attacked foreign workers, gays, homeless people and orthodox Jews, police said Sunday.

Three of the eight Russian-Israeli suspects, who are accused of being members of a neo-Nazi gang, hide their faces during a court appearance in the central Israeli town of Ramle on Sunday.
(Ariel Schalit/Associated Press)

The suspects were taken into custody a month ago, but police had not previously released details of the arrests.

All the suspects are between the ages of 16 and 21 and have Israeli citizenship, said police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld.

They all arrived from Russia over the past few years and were living in the central Israel city of Petah Tikva, east of Tel Aviv, where police have been investigating reports of attacks for more than a year, Rosenfeld said.

During a court appearance Sunday in the town of Ramle, the accused covered their faces with their shirts.

The court ordered seven of the suspects to be held for another 48 hours pending a review of the evidence against them and was to rule on the eighth suspect on Monday, Agence France-Press reported.

A ninth suspect fled the country, Rosenfeld said.

Society has 'failed' in this case, PM says

News of the arrests came as a shock to people in Israel, which was founded nearly 60 years ago as a refuge for Jews in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the allegations suggest that society has 'failed in educating these youths and distancing them from crazy and dangerous ideologies.'
(Ronen Zvulun/Associated Press)

Police allege the gang made videos of their attacks. After watching a video at Sunday's cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert speculated on possible reasons for the violence.

"We saw the appalling documentation of violence for its own sake, suspected — and I stress, suspected — of being motivated by neo-Nazi ideology," Olmert said in a statement.

"I'm sure that no one in Israel is indifferent to these scenes, which demonstrate that we as a society have failed in educating these youths and distancing them from crazy and dangerous ideologies."

Investigators allege they seized Nazi uniforms and portraits of Adolf Hitler in the suspects' homes. At one home, police allegedly found explosives.

Investigators have also released photographs showing spray-painted swastikas on the interiors and exteriors of synagogues in Petah Tikva.

The suspects all came to Israel under the Law of Return, which allows anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent to become a citizen.

Revital Almog, the police official who led the investigation, told Israeli public radio that the suspects' connection to Judaism "is distant, through grandparents or distant family connections."