The tires on 28 cars were slashed overnight Monday in Abu Ghosh, an Arab village 6 miles west of Jerusalem, in a suspected nationalist Jewish attack.
In addition, slogans were spray painted on walls. These included “racism or assimilation,” and “Arabs out.”
Police have begun to investigate the event. No one has been arrested yet.
The government decided this week to grant greater powers to the law enforcement authorities regarding suspected Jewish nationalist attacks, which are usually referred to as “price tag” attacks.
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon will have the authority to rely on Emergency Defense Measures that have been used only against Arab terrorism until now, in combating the suspected Jewish vandalism.
He will have the authority to declare that 'price tag' activists are members of an illegal organization. This means that it will be possible to hold suspects under arrest for longer periods. It will also be possible to hold suspects under arrest for some time without giving them access to lawyers, and to confiscate property, assets and bank accounts.
The larger media sources play up instances of suspected Jewish nationalistic offenses but tend to hush up and play down Arab nationalistic attacks, which are much more violent than the average Jewish attack and much more widespread.