Jerusalem District Police Yossi Pariente and Minister of Internal Security Yitzhak Aharonovitch visited the scene of a vandalized French Hill gas station on Tuesday, vowing to Arutz Sheva reporters at the scene to stop vandalism in the neighborhood. Arab thugs attacked the gas station earlier this week, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails.
"We really see this as a severe incident, and we will respond appropriately, we will arrest the perpetrators of this vandalism, the theft and the rioting," Pariente said.
He added that over 600 people have been arrested over the past two months for similar incidents, and that the Jerusalem Police take vandalism of this kind "very seriously."
Aharonovitch agreed, noting that the Ministry is "not lenient" with "vandalism" in the area, as well as in neighborhoods just outside Jerusalem.
He declined, however, to classify the incident as "terrorism."
"No doubt that there is an increase in the amount of incidents and their severity [...] and we cannot ignore this," Aharonovitch said.
"There are attacks on the light rail, I took a ride today and spoke with the management, I promised them and the residents of Jerusalem that we must bring back security, and we will be doing so during the next few days," he added. "It's important to remember that in addition to Jerusalem, there's also the atmosphere, [both] international and regional."