Tires slashed, anti-Arab graffiti found in northern village

Residents of Akbara, an Arab village near Safed, woke up Tuesday to find anti-Arab graffiti spray-painted on a wall overnight and the tires of numerous cars slashed.

The graffiti read: “Enough with assimilation — Arabs get out.” At least 10 cars had their tires rendered useless, police said Tuesday morning.

Authorities said an investigation was opened into the vandalism, which was likely a “price tag” attack, a term used by Jewish extremists to describe vandalism or attacks typically carried out against non-Jews or their property, ostensibly as retribution for Palestinian terror attacks or Israeli government actions deemed contrary to settler interests.

On Sunday, anti-Islamic graffiti was found on a mosque wall in Baqa al-Gharbiya, and three suspected price tag attacks were reported just last month.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon announced in July that planning and carrying out price tag attacks will be defined as “illegal organizing,” giving law enforcement the same tools to fight them as they do Islamic terror groups.

Former Shin Bet security agency director Carmi Gillon warned in early September that if current peace talks with the Palestinians make progress, “the next Yigal Amir [the assassin of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin] will emerge from among the people who stand behind price tag attacks.”