Netanyahu condemns price tag attacks, racism

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday condemned recent acts of racism and “price tag” attacks against Israeli Arabs and Palestinians.

Alluding to the recently exposed separation of Jewish and Arab schoolchildren at the country’s largest amusement park and a series of price tag attacks against various targets, including the Dormition Abbey, Netanyahu said such actions were unacceptable.

“I would like to strongly condemn recent incidents of racism against Israeli Arabs and hooliganism against Palestinians, which [occurred] without any provocation or justification whatsoever,” Netanyahu said. “We strongly reject these incidents and will act with all legal means at our disposal to stop them.”

The Middle East was “going through an especially sensitive period of shock and upheavals,” the prime minister said at the cabinet’s weekly meeting. “While we have no interest in being party to the conflicts around us, we are acting and we are committed to preventing dangers to Israel’s security, and we have a clear policy of responding to attempted attacks against our territory.”

The ongoing civil war in Syria has drawn Israel closer to action in recent weeks, as spillovers into the Golan Heights led the IDF to return fire and target Syrian posts. In addition, the purchase from Russia of advanced S-300 surface-to-air missiles by Damascus, amid Israel’s fear that such arms will end up in the hands of the Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah, has prompted Israel to actively try to stop the deal.