A resident of Karnei Shomron reported Monday afternoon that he had been attacked by several Arabs while driving near the city of Shechem. The Arabs threw heavy stones at his car, causing damage, he said.
The man told police he had fired his personal weapon in the air to ward off the attackers, and then had continued on his way.
Almost four hours later, international news agencies began to report that a Jewish resident of Samaria had shot and critically wounded an Arab teenager. The teen was shot in the back while farming, Arabs claimed.
Police investigated and discovered that an 18-year-old Arab from a village near Shechem had indeed been moderately wounded by gunfire earlier in the day. Following the discovery, the Jewish driver and others who were in his car at the time of the attack were summoned for questioning.
The Council of Samaria Residents expressed anger over the Arabs' accusation. “This is a despicable lie made up by the Arabs who threw rocks and boulders at a Jew traveling along Gilad Way,” the council said in a statement. “After they failed to murder the Jewish traveler, they used the extreme Left, as always, to flip the story around and argue that the Jew, a defense official, hurt them.”
The head of the Samaria Regional Council, Gershon Mesika, praised the Jewish driver “who acted properly and defended himself.” The Arab attack was a result of the government's policy of removing checkpoints and releasing terrorist prisoners to strengthen the Palestinian Authority, Mesika added.
Earlier this year, a Jewish driver in Samaria was accused of shooting and killing an Arab teen after firing in the air to ward off attackers. A police investigation subsequently revealed that the teen was killed by one of the rocks he hurled at the Jewish driver.