Arab MK attacked with steaming tea

While attending a Beersheba rally against the Prawer plan for the resettlement of Negev Bedouin on Thursday morning, Israeli-Arab MK Ahmad Tibi (Ra’am-Ta’al) was doused in the face with hot tea, but escaped the incident without injury.

The attacker, a Jewish man, was immediately arrested by police officers at the event and taken in for questioning.

“Growing racism and incitement” against Arab MKs, especially around the controversial Prawer plan, has “consequences,” Tibi warned, according to a report in the Maariv daily.

He added that any attack on an elected official was “grave,” but said he “was not afraid” and would continue to protest the plan, even in the face of death threats.

The Prawer plan, an initiative up for debate in the Knesset to create and recognize Bedouin townships in the Negev, which would also involve relocation of other settlements, was frozen by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week after an international and domestic outcry.

However, the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee on Monday was still preparing the bill for its next Knesset reading.