NEAR LYNCHING: Dozens of Arabs viciously attack Jews in northern Israeli city

The victims were attacked with clubs, iron bars and knives.

By Aryeh Savir, TPS

Dozens of Arabs viciously assaulted and injured two Israeli Jews in Akko’s old city, an incident some described as an attempted lynching.

Police arrested two Arabs on suspicion of involvement in the assault. An initial investigation shows that the taunting of the Jews — two brothers who were out fishing at the old port — deteriorated into a violent attack with clubs, iron bars and knives.

The Jews were lightly wounded and evacuated for treatment at the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya.

Gabi Moati, the father of the two brothers aged 18 and 20, told the Israel Hayom daily that one of his sons had gone to inflate a tire on his ATV at a gas station and four Arabs started teasing him. The brothers then continued on to search for a good fishing spot.

Further down the harbor, they stood next to two older Arab fishermen in their 50s, “and together they fished, and everything was fine.”

“Suddenly, they saw dozens of young people coming towards them. They started teasing them and then threatened and attacked them,” Moati said.

According to Moati, his sons called police while trying to escape. Upon their arrival, the dozens of attackers fled to the Old City.

One of the victims required stitches after being stabbed with a knife.

“It is a sad and difficult event and very serious,” Moati concluded.

The police will request an extension to the detention of the suspects in the Magistrate’s Court in Akko.

Member of Knesset Simcha Rothman warned Minister of Public Security Omer Barlev and the police that if they do “not handle these events with all their might, in a few hours we can find ourselves again in Operation Guardian of the Walls,” during which Arabs rioted in Israeli cities throughout the country.

AkkoArab IsraelisArab violenceOperation Guardian of the Walls