Police chief vows action against ‘terrorists from both sides,’ drawing right-wing fury

18 May 2021, 9:33 pm

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Israeli Police Chief Kobi Shabtai on January 8, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai meets the mayors of the mixed Jewish-Arab cities of Lod and Ramle, which have seen major unrest that has somewhat subsided in recent day, and says “we will bring terrorists from both sides to justice.”

That remark immediately draws outrage from right-wing politicians and pundits.

Shabtai adds that police will offer that the government adopt “a police model for the mixed cities that will include technological means for safer cities.”

Some Jewish residents of Lod say they turned down an invitation to meet Shabtai to protest the long-running police inaction that preceded last week’s riots and violence by Arab mobs, which have resulted in one death and in Jewish revenge attacks.