Jewish-Arab coexistence NGO hit by grenade in Lod overnight
Abraham Initiatives says incident is ‘total surprise’; police, group say no information yet on perpetrators after scene of explosion discovered early Wednesday morning
Employees of a Jewish-Arab coexistence organization found the hallway leading to their offices in shambles Wednesday morning, in what a preliminary investigation indicated was the aftermath of a hand grenade explosion.
No one was hurt or injured in the overnight attack, the motives of which are not yet clear.
An employee of the Abraham Initiatives, an NGO that advocates partnership between Jewish and Arab Israelis and that tracks violent crime within Arab society, arrived at the group’s offices in the central city of Lod and discovered broken glass and other property damage. The employee called police to the scene.
No one from the organization was present when the blast happened, or heard it, but police believed the incident took place between 2-3 a.m., according to the group’s director.
A bomb disposal officer arrived at the scene and examined the remains of what appeared to have caused the explosion, and searched the area for anything that could pose a continuing danger. Remains of the exploded item were sent to a forensics lab for further investigation.
“The Abraham Initiatives does not have any indication concerning the identity of those responsible for this action, their motives, or their intended target,” the group said.
The organization connected the incident to the broader problem of crime and violence in Arab communities, which the group has pressed the government to do more to address.
“The Abraham Initiatives has been active for 35 years in enhancing integration and equality between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel. In recent years, the organization has focused its efforts on the need to uproot the crime and violence that afflict Arab society. This morning, the organization’s members and staff experienced this violence firsthand,” the group said.
The NGO “expects that the police and the law enforcement authorities will undertake a rapid and thorough investigation of this grave incident and bring the perpetrators to justice,” it added.
The Times of Israel Community.