At least 10 cars were vandalized Monday night in Lod, in the Ramat Elyashiv neighborhood next to an Arab neighborhood. The neighborhood is home to several Orthodox Jewish families, who have been part of an ongoing effort to turn the struggling city into a success.
"We see that these incidents are getting worse, and hope the police will do everything to catch the rioters and bring them to justice," a representative from the community told Arutz Sheva. "We call on the police and the municipality to continue to work for the personal safety of all residents of the city."
In January, MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud) called on the government to secure Lod, after speaking to an elderly woman who had been suffering constant harassment from local Arabs.
"I was shocked by the stories she told, more than by almost anything else I have ever heard,” the MK stated then. The torture that the woman faced, he said, was similar to incidents that occurred throughout the country.
In April, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flag flew in Lod's town square, further upsetting local Jewish residents.
Locals complained to Arutz Sheva that attempts to report to the police about the phenomenon - and about ongoing violence with possible anti-Semitic motivations - were being consistently ignored by local officials.
Pro-Palestinian Authority (PA) marches regularly happen in Lod, according to local police.
The city has a mixed Israeli-Arab population, which has seen heightened tensions between groups despite efforts from both sides to compromise with the arrangements.