Police have arrested two men on suspicion of raping and sexually assaulting women in the Sharon region. The two, Arab-Israeli residents of Yafo and Tira, are suspected of targeting a number of victims, some of whom have not yet been identified.
The two chose non-Arab victims, including a foreign worker from the Philippines who is thought to have suffered the more serious attack. The two are accused of violently raping the woman after offering her a ride to work, then abandoning her in wooded area.
In a second incident, the two are accused of attempting to rape a woman whose car had stopped by the side of the road. The attackers allegedly beat the woman and dragged her from the road, stopping the attack only when they believed a friend of hers had arrived at the scene.
The two are also accused of robbing and sexually assaulting three other victims, and attempting to rape a woman in her car. The attacks all took place in recent months.
The suspects' names have been withheld from the media by court order.
The case is reminiscent of two similar cases in the north in which groups of Arab men targeted non-Arab women for gang rape attacks. In both cases, police discovered that the crimes were motivated in part by Arab nationalism and a hatred of Israel.
In 2007, six Bedouin Arab men and teenagers were arrested for raping at least three teenaged girls and one adult woman. The attacks took place in the Galilee beginning in 2005.
Following their arrest, the suspects confessed to the crimes and said they were motivated by their hatred of Israel and a desire to take revenge for IDF operations in Gaza.
Later in 2007, six Arab men from the Galilee abducted two intoxicated Israeli teenagers in Netanya and raped one of them. The attackers called their victim a “dirty Jew” during the assault.