5 Bedouin Israelis charged with throwing rocks at Jewish drivers in south

Five Bedouin youths were recently arrested and indicted for hurling stones at vehicles in southern Israel, injuring two, law enforcement authorities said on Sunday.

In a joint statement, Israel Police and the Shin Bet security agency said the five youths, of the Abu Madi clan near the southern city of Beersheba, threw stones at vehicles on Route 25 on a number of occasions in recent months.

Officials said the men carried out the highway attacks “with a racist and nationalistic motive… with the aim of harming Jews.”

According to the police and Shin Bet investigation, the five would monitor cars driving toward Beersheba near the Abu Talul junction, and attack those they identified as being driven by Jewish Israelis.

As a result of their attacks, two people were wounded, including a pregnant woman, and a number of cars were damaged, police and Shin Bet said.

The five, arrested in May, were charged with intentionally causing damage under aggravated and racially motivated circumstances, as well as obstruction of justice. Three of the suspects were additionally hit with terror charges and racially motivated aggravated assault.

The suspects were not immediately named.

The arrests come after two Bedouin minors were detained and charged in March for hurling stones at cars on the Route 31 highway, also in southern Israel.

Negev Bedouin have a contentious relationship with the state. For decades, the government has sought to move them into recognized, planned cities, but many still live in a constellation of illegal hamlets that sprawl across Israel’s southern desert, many of them lacking in basic services.