An Arab man attacked the Lod municipality's Director-General Aharon Attias, shattering his vehicle's rear windshield with a heavy hammer.
Attias has submitted a complaint to Israel Police.
The incident began when Attias was driving in Lod and noticed the Arab, a resident of the city, smashing vehicles' windshields one after the other.
"I videoed it and called the police," Attias told Arutz Sheva. "I directed the squad car which arrived and went together with them to the person who was smashing the windshields."
Initial investigations by Israel Police show that the suspect had had an argument with his son, and that the windshield he had smashed was his son's.
"I saw his son standing on the side with an iron rod," he added. "I understood that something was happening, but since the police had already arrived, I left the scene."
Meanwhile, Attias continued with his day, and went on a routine visit to one of the city's parks. Upon returning to his vehicle, he saw the same Arab waiting for him, waiting with an iron rod. "He came closer to me and asked me, 'Who are you?' I told him, 'I'm the Director-General of the Lod municipality.'"
"He asked me if I called the police, and I said yes. Then he asked why I called the police, and I told him that that's my job, to keep order in the city of Lod. So he said, 'That's your job? Now I'll show you what my job is.'"
Credit: Aharon Attias
At that point, the Arab walked to his vehicle and started his engine.
"In the meantime, I got into my car," Attias said. "He came back with a large hammer, went to my rear windshield, and smashed it. He went to the back left window, and smashed it with the hammer. He came close to me and waved his hammer. There was about half a second that I looked him in the face and at that moment he stopped and didn't continue to smash the windshield and my face. He waved his hammer at me but didn't bring it down on me."
"He ran to his car and drove off. I chased after him while calling the police, and he managed to get away. When he saw my look I think he felt that it would cost him too much to attack me."
Attias added that "this is not a normal incident in Lod, but we are in the midst of a wave of violence, mostly shootings, and we're dealing with that wave."
Following the chase, Attias drove to the police station, and filed a complaint against the Arab who attacked him. "I assume he'll be arrested in the coming hours," he said.