Jewish residents of Lod blocked train tracks in the city Thursday evening in protest of the Arab violence in the city. The protest caused widespread disruption of rail service in central Israel.
Israel Railways stated that, “Due to protesters entering the track area in Lod in violation of the regulations, train traffic in the area was stopped and there were changes and delays in train traffic in the central area.”
Lod Mayor Yair Revivo threatened to overthrow the government due to the many cases of violent crime in his city. “If the ISA law to deal with Arab crime is not passed immediately, I will work to overthrow the government. One MK has already declared support for me, and four more are on the way.”
The law Revivo referenced was put forward by the Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir (Otzma Yehudit), and would authorize the Israel Security Agency (Shabak) to assist in the fight against crime in Arab society.
Revivo’s words were said after an exchange of gunfire that lasted for hours was heard Wednesday night throughout Lod. A conflict between criminals resulted in bursts of shooting throughout the evening. The police arrested 13 suspects in the incident over the course of the following day.
One of the bullets penetrated the home of Besheva reporter Ofra Lax, who lives in the city. Lax said: “Tonight a crazy miracle happened to me. I decided to go to bed early. The city was indeed shaking from gunshots, but I tried to ignore it. I read a few last WhatsApp messages, and then suddenly a relatively close burst of gunfire, an explosion and I see small pieces of wood on me. I’m suspicious. I call my husband and he recognizes the hole from a bullet in the table next to my bed. We started looking around, we find more table fragments. Looking at the shutter, we see an entrance hole. The bullet entered my bedroom and missed me by inches. Thank God for the miracle.”
“How does this happen in a city in Israel? How does it make sense that there are shootings here every night? I can’t breathe. I’m waiting for something to change here,” Lax added.
Several other shootings have taken place over the last day near Arab-majority cities. In Kafr Kanna, a man and three-year-old girl were shot and seriously wounded. A mass shooting near Nazareth left five dead earlier on Thursday. On Thursday evening, a driver was shot and critically wounded near Kafr Qassem on Route 5. He lost control of his car and crashed.
