THE TERRORISTS IN OUR MIDST:

The Shin Bet seized "documents of the revolt" and others outlining the theology of the members of this sect, who were organized in compartmentalized terror cells of three to five members each. The cells operated secretly and independently of one another, and each knew nothing about the activities of other cells. Infiltrating this gang with Shin Bet agents is almost impossible, reminiscent of attempts to insert agents into extremist Islamic terror organizations.

These group members share an extremist messianic ideology. They are closely familiar with one another, grew up together and became radicalized together. They hold the rest of the world in suspicion and are well versed in interrogation and efforts to track them. They live in West Bank outposts, know how to survive in nature and find refuge in caves and abandoned structures. They are able to exist in wild territory, disconnected from civilization for many long days.

Ben Uliel grew up in the Etzion settlement bloc, the son of a Karmei Zur settlement rabbi who is viewed as moderate and statesmanlike. He lived for a period in the illegal outpost Geulat Tzion. Ben Uliel was interrogated over several long weeks until he confessed to the murder of the Dawabsha family, and even reconstructed the act in front of Shin Bet interrogators in the middle of the night, in the same spot where the murder took place. Now his family and friends claim that his confession was extricated from him under torture and is therefore not admissible.

Thus the Shin Bet faces a complicated legal battle to authorize this confession and add additional testimony such as hidden details that Ben Uliel supplied regarding the terror site and the testimony of a minor who worked with him to plan the attack.

The cracking of the "revolt cell" has sparked a fierce political controversy in Israel. The extremist right calls for making a distinction between Arab terror and Jews who perpetrate crimes and holds that torture must not be used against citizens of the state. But the vast majority of the political map supports the decision to use torture against such suspects. Even Education Minister Naftali Bennett and most of his colleagues in HaBayit HaYehudi say that "terror is terror." They are keenly aware that these poisonous weeds who grew up in their garden plots endanger the State of Israel no less (and maybe even more) than the Arab enemy.

The group's staggering ideological doctrine is laid out in detail in a number of documents that were seized by the Shin Bet. According to them, the State of Israel -- which it calls the "kingdom of malice" -- "has no right to exist and we must operate to destroy it, then build a Jewish kingdom." Members of the cell commit themselves to appoint a king who will rule over the nation and force it to obey the harshest of religious precepts. The documents contain detailed instructions on how to burn down mosques or churches and how to shift from inflicting damage and burning down Arab possessions to burning down homes with Arabs living inside. The Shin Bet identified the moment in which the group transitioned from inflicting property damage to inflicting physical harm, in order to create as much chaos as possible on the ground and promote their agenda.

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