In his response to MK (Machane Tzioni) Yitzchak Shmuli, Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan explained the number of so-called price tag attacks dropped in 2015. Shmuli serves as Chairman of the Knesset against right-wing extremist violence.

The facts presented by the minister document 371 price-tag attacks in 2015 while there were 616 in 2014 and 575 in 2013. Price-tag attacks as they have become known are acts of vandalism against Arab property that are usually accompanied by nationalistic graffiti and therefore attributed to right-wing extremists. It is pointed out that while in some cases Jews are responsible for such actions, there have also been documented cases in which Arabs carried out the attacks and left graffiti that would implicate Jews.

Despite the handing down of indictments in the Duma arson case, some opine this is the case, that Arabs torched the house as part of an ongoing feud involving the Darawshe family of Duma and left graffiti on the scene to implicate Jews. They insist the ISA’s success in extracting confessions by torturing Jewish suspects renders the confessions inadmissible in a court of law.

A mother, father and infant son were killed in the arson attack and another son was left severely burned. They were all resident of the PA (Palestinian Authority).

Erdan also reported that in 2015 there were 67 criminal indictments pertaining to price-tag attacks as compared to 104 in 2014 and 116 in 2013.

The data shows that 1,562 investigations were launched into price-tag attacks over three years, which resulted in 287 criminal indictments. A third of the cases were closed due to the police department’s inability to determine who was responsible for the attacks.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)