Police minister calls for release of Jewish man arrested for killing Arab Israeli in Lod

Public Security Minister Amir Ohana calls for the release of a Jewish man who was arrested in connection with the deadly shooting of an Arab Israeli man during protests and riots in the central city of Lod on Monday night.

“The arrest of the shooter and his friends in Lod, who acted in self-defense, is terrible,” says Ohana, who is the minister responsible for policing.

“Law-abiding citizens carrying weapons are a force multiplier for the authorities for the immediate neutralization of threat and danger,” he says.

Ohana notes that detention is not under his purview, but “if that were the case, they would have been released.”

The Arab Israeli man was shot and killed and two others were wounded during violence on Monday evening. Eyewitnesses said the victims were part of a mob throwing stones and firebombs at Jewish-owned homes and were shot by Jewish residents in what Jewish witnesses said was self-defense.

The statement comes after Ohana declared a state of emergency in Lod overnight and as police forces are bolstered on the streets of the city.

According to the Haaretz daily, police are expected to impose a lockdown on the city.

The newspaper says that anyone who violates any “reasonable instruction” from police faces a potential jail sentence.