Residents of Jewish Negev town cast doubt on police claim arson attack was nationalistically-motivated

Police’s claim that disgruntled Bedouin residents from Tarabin al-Sana were behind last night’s arson attack in Lehavim, a nearby Jewish town, may not be accurate, according to residents of the latter who spoke to Walla.

“I can’t say unequivocally that it’s an act of revenge,” says a member of Lehavim’s local council to the outlet, claiming that there is a solid chance the incident had nothing to do with rising tensions between Jewish and Arab residents in the Negev.

“There has already been arson, break-ins [and] property damage at this gas station, but I don’t know what the motive is,” he says.

Last night, five cars went up in flames at a gas station parking lot near the entrance to Lehavim, an affluent Jewish town northeast of Tarabin al-Sana.

Police claimed soon after the news broke that the arson was a “price tag” attack directed at Jewish residents, as revenge for law enforcement’s ramped-up activity in the Bedouin town.

The incident brought National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir down to Tarabin al-Sana this morning, in what was his third visit within a week to the village as police continue a raid there.

The raid began Monday, several days after a similar arson incident occurred Friday night, when masked assailants caused damage and set fire to cars in Giv’ot Bar and Mishmar Hanegev.

Police claimed the vandals were residents of Tarabin al-Sana who sought to take revenge on their Jewish neighbors, in response to an even earlier operation in the town by law enforcement, in search of a stolen horse.

However, this particular gas station near Lehavim has seen four separate instances of vandalism in recent months, locals tell Walla.

One resident speculates that the arson may have been an attempt by criminals to extort the gas station owner by threatening him into forking over protection money.

“Something strange is going on there, maybe protection,” he tells the outlet. “There’s a conflict there between the gas station owner and some Bedouin, over a certain contract [between the two].”