Rivlin condemns Lod ‘pogrom’ and ‘shameful silence’ of Arab leadership

President Reuven Rivlin condemns the rioters in Lod and says the Arab leadership needs to speak out in light of the recent upsurge in violence.

“The sight of the pogrom in Lod and the disturbances across the country by an incited and bloodthirsty Arab mob, injuring people, damaging property and even attacking sacred Jewish spaces is unforgivable,” Rivlin says. “Tearing down the Israeli flag by Arab rioters and replacing it with the Palestinian flag is a brutal assault on shared existence in the State of Israel.”

“The silence of the Arab leadership about these disturbances is shameful, giving support to terrorism and rioting and encouraging the rupture of the society in which we live and in which we will continue to live once all this has passed,” Rivlin says, adding that the rioters must be punished.

“This country belongs to us all, and more than anything we must be loyal to it and its laws,” Rivlin says.