Arab Rioters Torch Synagogue in Lod as Israel’s Leaders Urge Calm

Arab rioters set fire to another synagogue in the mixed Arab-Jewish city of Lod (Lydda), Israel, on Thursday night as violence between Jewish and Arab citizens continued.

Earlier this week, as Breitbart News reported, Arab rioters launched a “pogrom” against Jewish residents, setting fire to synagogues and attacking local Jewish-owned stores.

Crowds of Jewish hooligans also attacked Arab businesses, and an Arab driver was attacked in the city of Bat Yam. Israeli leaders across the political spectrum, from left to right, condemned the violence, as authorities struggled to maintain control.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu berated his fellow Israelis, telling them it was unacceptable for Arabs to “lynch” Jews, and vice versa.

But the violence has continued, as the Times of Israel reported Thursday:

A synagogue has reportedly been torched in Lod, as police again fail to contain raging riots in the central Israel city.

More people — Jews, Arabs and police officers — have been injured in widespread clashes in the city and other Jewish-Arab cities.

Arab rioters also shot a policeman near Ramle, and beat an Israeli soldier in Jaffa, near Tel Aviv.

The violence between Jews and Arabs strikes at the heart of Israel’s identity as an egalitarian society, albeit also the Jewish state, and many analysis have said it is a greater security threat than the thousands of Hamas rockets that have bombarded Israel’s cities in recent days.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new e-book, The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it). His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.