Tempers flared in Israel as leaders such as the Security Minister Gilad Erdan call for the homes of “politically motivated arsonists to be demolished.”
This promoted the idea that the wildfires in Israel, which began on November 22nd and spread to over 600 locations from as far south as the Dead Sea area north to Nahariya, were started by Arab terrorists. Calling the fires “a new type of terrorism,” many of Israel’s nationalists are getting on board with the idea that Arab terrorists started the wildfires, although Israeli police are withholding information regarding the specific allegations against more than half of the suspected arsonists it is currently holding.
According to the police, 23 people are currently under arrest in relation to the fires; an additional seven have been released. The police released basic details regarding only 10 of them, all allegedly involved in minor fires and not in the larger blazes like those outside Jerusalem, Zichron Ya’akov or Haifa.
Tempers flared in Israel as leaders such as the Security Minister Gilad Erdan call for the homes of “politically motivated arsonists to be demolished.”
This promoted the idea that the wildfires in Israel, which began on November 22nd and spread to over 600 locations from as far south as the Dead Sea area north to Nahariya, were started by Arab terrorists. Calling the fires “a new type of terrorism,” many of Israel’s nationalists are getting on board with the idea that Arab terrorists started the wildfires, although Israeli police are withholding information regarding the specific allegations against more than half of the suspected arsonists it is currently holding.
According to the police, 23 people are currently under arrest in relation to the fires; an additional seven have been released. The police released basic details regarding only 10 of them, all allegedly involved in minor fires and not in the larger blazes like those outside Jerusalem, Zichron Ya’akov or Haifa.
In these cases, the circumstances raise questions over the suspected political motivation ascribed to the accused arsonists. For example, a Nazareth resident whose arrest has been extended is suspected of arson in his own Arab-majority city. In another case, two suspects are accused of starting a brush fire between Sajur and Beit Jann, both of which are almost entirely Arab communities.