JFNA issues condemnation of recent Israeli attacks on Arabs

(Editor’s Note: The Jewish Federations of North America, through a spokesperson, issued this statement of condemnation yesterday. It is presented without edit or comment.)

The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) strongly condemns recent attacks on Arabs in Israel, while recognizing the country’s leadership for its strong stance against such violence. We applaud Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders who have forcefully expressed their dismay and opposition to these events.

Late last Thursday night, a group of Jewish youth surrounded and beat a 17-year-old Arab, Jamal Julani, who is now recovering in the city’s Hadassah Hospital. Six of the perpetrators have been arrested, including the accused ringleader, a young Jewish girl. Police have created a special investigative team to deal with the incident and expect additional arrests in the coming days. In a second troubling incident, a few days earlier, a fire bomb was thrown at a Palestinian taxi in the Gush Etzion region, light to moderately wounding six passengers. While the police currently have no leads, some speculate that the attack was carried out by Jewish settlers from the nearby settlement of Bat Ayin, and Israel’s Shin Bet internal security body is jointly investigating with the police. The extremist settler group known as “Tag Mechir” or “Price Tag,” a prime suspect, has denied involvement and condemned the attack.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while promising to bring the perpetrators to justice, stated, “The State of Israel is a democratic state, an enlightened state, a state where when we come across acts such as these, the entire state and all of its leaders come out together against such phenomena, and we will continue to do so. That is what makes us unique in the environment around us and this will continue to make us unique. I hope that one day our environment will change as well. But we will be persistent in our complete opposition to racism and violence. We are not prepared to tolerate racism in Israel. Neither are we prepared to tolerate the combination of racism and violence.”