Jewish Man Stabbed Near Mosque in Lod

A Jewish man was stabbed near a mosque in Lod while on his way to shul on Thursday morning, Lod Mayor Yair Revivo told Army Radio. The victim is in moderate condition.

The suspect escaped the scene and the background of the incident is under investigation, according to Israel Police.

Overnight Wednesday, Arab rioters continued their rampage in cities throughout Israel, attacking Jews and Jewish property.

In Haifa, Lod, Acco, Teveria and Arab towns across Israel, Arab rioters threw rocks at Israeli motorists, set fire to cars and vandalized property, attacked Jewish passersby, wounding dozens of Jews, including several in serious condition.

Responding to the pogroms, some Jewish hooligans marched through cities in which the riots took place and clashed with Arabs.

In Lod, despite the government’s announcement of a state of emergency and a curfew, and despite the streaming of further forces, the police were unable to gain control of the city and the Arab rioting continued. Two Arab suspects, residents of Lod in their 20s, were arrested for carrying out a number of shooting attacks on police officers during disturbances that took place Tuesday night in the city.

The police arrested 36 Arabs during the violent riots that took place in Jisr a-Zarqa, Hadera and Wadi Ara. The Arabs were arrested after throwing stones, launching fireworks, burning trash cans and tires and attacking police officers.

In Umm al-Fahm, shots were fired at police officers, wounding one of them moderately.

A 65-year-old woman was attacked by Arabs in Acco who tried to lynch her and the taxi driver who was driving her. Eyewitnesses at the scene said police fled the scene.

Also in Acco, Muslim terrorists threw stones and attacked Jews with sticks. As a result of the attacks, a Jew was wounded and is in severe condition.

The Arab rioters in the city also vandalized Jewish property and set fire to a police car. Infrastructure at a train station was damaged and the train service was shut down in the city.

In Bat Yam, Jewish hooligans vandalized Arab property and seriously injured one Arab in a lynching scene.

The police are facing heavy criticism for their apparent failure to contend with the riots, and multiple eyewitness accounts say that the police did not respond to calls of distress, refused to fend off the rioters, and fled the scene at times, leaving the civilians to fight for their lives.

The police have so far arrested 374 rioters across the country, during which 36 policemen were lightly injured.

Jewish leaders and politicians condemned the acts of hooliganism commented by Jews.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Wednesday night that “what is happening in Israel’s cities over the past few days is unacceptable. We have seen Arab rioters set fire to synagogues and vehicles and attack police officers. They are attacking peaceful and innocent citizens. This is something that we cannot accept; it is anarchy. Nothing justifies this and I will tell you that nothing justifies the lynching of Jews by Arabs and nothing justifies the lynching of Arabs by Jews.”

He said he intends to deploy military forces according to the existing law and will introduce an additional law if necessary.

“To the citizens of Israel, I say that I do not care if your blood is boiling. You cannot take the law into your own hands. You cannot grab an Arab citizen and try to lynch him – just as we cannot watch Arab citizens do this to Jewish citizens. This is something that I am certain is shared by most citizens of Israel,” he said.

Sephardi Chief Rabbi Harav Yitzchak Yosef condemned the Jews’ lynching mobs and said that “innocent Israeli citizens are being attacked by terrorist organizations, the blood is indeed hot and our hearts are outraged; the scenes are difficult to watch. However, we must not be dragged into provocations and to hurting people or harming property.”

“According to the Torah, there is no permission to take the law into one’s hands and act violently. The work of restoring order must be left to the police. We must be a light unto the nations, and not, chalilah, the opposite,” he said.