Mofaz in Akko: Riots intolerable
Transportation minister visits northern city week after eruption of fierce Jewish-Arab clashes, says 'we must respect one another's religion and faith'
"The reality of what happened in Akko on Yom Kippur is intolerable," Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz said Wednesday during a visit to the northern city a week after fierce clashes erupted there after an Arab motorist entered a predominantly Jewish neighborhood on the holiest Jewish day.
"To preserve coexistence we must respect one another's religion and faith and not take the law into our own hands," he said following a meeting with Mayor Shimon Lankry and other local officials.
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Hundreds of police officers remain deployed in Akko to preserve the peace. More than 64 people were arrested during the riots.
Mayor Lankry said after meeting Mofaz that "It is my estimation that we have seen the last of the violent events; 99% of the city's residents want calm to prevail; only a small number of radicals are looking to inflame the situation."
The Arab driver who sparked the riots, Taufik Jamal, was arrested on Monday, the eve of Sukkot. The charges against him include reckless endangerment and "offence against religion".
Knesset Member Abas Zkoor (United Arab List-Ta'al) claimed that the arrest may incite further rioting despite Arab leaders' calls for peace.
Zkoor is responsible for a manifesto published by the Arab leaders in Akko, which condemned Jamal for his Yom Kippur drive. In an interview with Ynet, he claimed he felt that he and his associates had done everything possible to calm raging emotions in the city.
"The way I see it, he was arrested without having committed an offence just to calm the Jewish side," he said.
