Israeli security sources were investigating a suspected abduction attempt on Tuesday, which they say might have been an unsuccessful act of terror.
A 51-year-old Arab Israeli citizen from Yafa an-Naseriyye in the Galilee, is suspected of trying to force a 22-year-old Jewish woman into his car on a street in the city of Tiberias.
He was arrested and taken to the city police center for questioning, but during the initial investigation it emerged that his motives appeared to have been "nationalistic." The police said he was transferred to the Shin Bet for further questioning.
"Police officers arrived on the scene after the abduction attempt was reported, and searched the area before locating and arresting the suspect," the police said in a statement.
Yigal Ben-Lulu, a head of the Tiberias police force, said the incident was reported around noon by the alleged victim. "She said a man she had not known, attempted to abduct her when she was waiting at the bus stop. He grabbed her and tried to push her into his car. The woman resisted, called the police and described the vehicle,” he said.
"Police officers are spread throughout the city and troops who were nearby received the call and arrived on the scene and quickly identified the suspect's car and arrested him," the police chief said, adding that the investigation in underway, and all aspects are being probed, including terrorism.
The woman herself said her rescue from the alleged kidnapping was "a miracle."
“He tackled me from behind and tried to pull me back, I fought until I got loose. Things could’ve ended in disaster. When I was fighting him, I fell down onto the road just as a bus was passing by, and I was nearly run over, I went through a nightmare.”