The government on Tuesday declared a civilian state of emergency in the mixed Jewish-Arab city of Lod, deploying several Border Police companies to restore order in the area following unprecedented riots that saw synagogues, shops and dozens of cars set on fire.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Unrest was also noted in other mixed cities, but Lod appears to manifest the worst of it. Israel Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai called the situation unprecedented.
"We are seeing a situation in mixed cities that we have never seen before, including the incidents of October 2000," he said, referring to the wave of riots that broke out among Arab Israelis in October 2000 – the early days of the Second Intifada.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Public Security Minister Amir Ohana, and Defense Minister Benny Gantz agreed that a civilian state of emergency had to be announced in the city, effectively placed Lod under lockdown, with security forces at its gates to enforce it.
"We will do everything we can to restore order and security to Lod and to the whole country," Amir Ohana tweeted.
Gantz said the defense establishment will provide any means necessary for security forces to restore order in the city, including troops to enforce the lockdown.
Netanyahu arrived in Lod late Tuesday night.
"These events have no excuse. We will not tolerate this [violence]. We need to restore calm. If this isn't an emergency situation, I don't know what is," he told reporters, stressing, "We're talking about life and death here."
Lod Mayor Yair Revivo called recent events in the city a "Kristallnacht."
He told Channel 12 News, "This is a complete loss of control, a failure of governance. … I have called on the prime minister to declare a state of emergency in Lod. To call in the IDF. To impose a curfew. To restore the calm. This is an intifada [uprising] by Arab Israelis. All the work we have done here for years [on coexistence] has gone down the drain.
"This is unthinkable," he continued. "Synagogues are being burned. Hundreds of cars torched. Hundreds of Arab thugs are roaming the streets. Civil war has erupted in Lod."
President Reuven Rivlin took to Twitter on Wednesday to condemn the violence.
"The sight of the pogrom in Lod and the disturbances across the country by an incited and bloodthirsty Arab mob, injuring people, damaging property and even attacking sacred Jewish spaces is unforgivable," he tweeted.
Arab violence erupted in numerous other cities across Israel, and there were also reports of Jewish revenge attacks, including in Lod, where a Muslim cemetery was reportedly torched.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
