JERUSALEM, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Israeli prosecutors charged a university professor on Monday with planning coordinated attacks to kill "hundreds" of Arab citizens of Israel and Palestinians in the West Bank, the State Attorney's Office said.
The defendant, a man in his 60s from Petah Tikva whose identity is protected by a court-imposed gag order, is a mathematics lecturer at Bar-Ilan University outside Tel Aviv. Prosecutors said he allegedly developed the deadly plan over the past three years, motivated by nationalist ideology.
He was arrested two weeks ago.
According to the indictment, he called the plan "AIT," a Hebrew acronym for a phrase meaning "the people will carry out transfer." Prosecutors said its aim was the mass forced displacement of Arab citizens of Israel.
He was charged with preparing to commit an act of terrorism, extortion by threats and obstruction of justice. Prosecutors asked the court to keep him in custody until the proceedings conclude.
Bar-Ilan University released a statement, condemning the acts and saying the lecturer would be suspended "immediately."
Israeli Arabs are the descendants of Palestinians who stayed put during the 1948 war, which led to the statehood of Israel. ■
