Three Arab youths were arrested over the weekend and charged with torching the hesder yeshiva, Ruach Tzfonit (Spirit of the North) in Akko last week.
Security sources said Sunday that the three suspects were nabbed in a joint operation by Israel Police and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) forces. They added that their motives appeared nationalistic.
The yeshiva's office was badly damaged by the firebomb used by the arsonists who attempted to burn down the building, a move that might also have re-ignited the days of rioting that set the streets of Akko afire during the Jewish high holy days last month.
Yeshiva officials said they were determined to stay despite the damage. "We will not cave in to bullying," administrative director Dorel Abramowitz told reporters last week. "We refuse to make any change that would give the impression that we are intimidated by Arab threats."
The seven-year-old yeshiva moved four years ago to the Wolfson neighborhood, to provide support and a rejuvenating presence for the small, fading Jewish population which had seen its synagogue close. The vitality of the yeshiva's 170 students strengthened the Jewish presence in an area that until that point had been 75 percent Arab.
Those who tried to burn down the building, yeshiva director Rabbi Yosef Stern told The Jerusalem Post, were "a group of bullies who are threatened by our Zionist, Jewish activities here. But we will not be dragged into a confrontation with them, nor will we deviate from our goal of strengthening the Jewish presence in the city."