Four people were arrested Saturday on suspicion of rioting violently in a cafe in the Arab town of Kafr Qassem and attacking both police officers and a volunteer who arrived at the scene.
It is suspected that the four attackers are part of the Islamic Movement and serve as supervisors, and that they were attempting to prevent the arrest of the first person who had started rioting in the cafe.
Footage of the attack shows a local attacking, with fists and very violently, one of the police officers surrounding him. At the same time, another person can be seen pushing the officers, hitting one of them in the face and then leaving the scene while none of the officers attempt to stop him.
Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai said, "We will not ignore the incidents of violence against police officers, such as what occurred in Kafr Qassem. I have instructed the district and regional command to act with determination and force and to lay hands on anyone who took part in the event, and we will place at their disposal any means and forces they demand."
Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "I strongly condemn the attacks on police officers in Kafr Qassem. When the Bennett government is dependent on [United Arab List Chairman MK] Mansour Abbas and the Muslim Brotherhood, criminals in the Arab sector lift their heads and dare to harm our police officers. This is the crossing of a red line, which we must not ignore. We must bring to full justice anyone who was involved in this criminal act of violence."
MK Ofir Sofer (Religious Zionism) said: "The security forces must be given full support to protect us and themselves. If they had received that, these same criminals would never dare to act this way."
"If a similar incident had occurred in [the Jewish town of] Yitzhar, they would have fired live bullets. When it's residents from Kafr Qassem, there is no justice and no judge," MK Itamar Ben Gvir (Otzma Yehudit) commented. "This is racism for its own sake. It's shameful and an embarrassment."