JERUSALEM (JTA) — Dozens of vehicles were vandalized in a suspected hate crime in the Arab-Israeli town of Jaljulia in central Israel.
The tires of at least 40 vehicles were slashed on Jajulia overnight and discovered on Thursday morning. A bus also was spray painted in Hebrew with what was described by Israeli media as “anti-assimilation.”
One message read “Jews end the diaspora mentality and stop assimilating.”
The incident is being investigated by police as a hate crime.
Such “price-tag” attacks are often perpetrated against Palestinian villages and towns in the West Bank, and are usually retaliation for actions taken against. But this is the third such attack on an Arab city or town inside the internationally recognized borders of Israel this year.
On Tuesday, Jewish extremist Rabbi Bentzi Gopstein, head of the Lehava anti-coexistence group which opposes intermarriage and joint Jewish-Arab initiatives, was indicted on charges of incitement to violence and racism and support for terrorism.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
