Arabs carrying out an IDF -approved olive harvest earlier today attacked Israel Rappaport, the owner of the Nof Avi farm adjacent to the town of Migdalim.
The Arabs arrived at the site, and after a short time began attacking Rappaport, who was present, and he was lightly wounded in the face as a result of thrown stones. Samaria governor Yossi Dagan spoke with him after the attack and called for the arrest of the attacker.
Rappaport recalled, "I was together with two army jeeps that arrived to secure the farm. I identified about 10-20 harvesters who entered the farm's lands, adjacent to the farm, before the planned time and not via the security checkpoint."
"At one point, some of the Arabs began to shout, threaten and disturb the peace. One of them raised a stone, and he and his brother began to punch me in the face. It took some time for me to recover, I stepped back a bit, and then I managed to alert the army forces. The moment the attackers and the assailant understood the soldiers were coming, he basically ran away, fled toward the road, and at this time they have not yet caught him."
Governor Dagan demanded the arrest of the attackers, "In recent years the harvest season has become a season of provocation and incitement by extreme left elements and hostile elements from Israel and abroad - the harvest season has become the season of incitement. GWe demand the immediate arrest of the attacker and of those who incite and accompany these events. It is unacceptable that a Jewish farm owner is attacked with stones during a harvest approved by the IDF, and we will put this on the agenda."
He stressed that the council will continue to stand by the farm owners throughout the area, "The residents here are doing the simplest Zionist act - building, cultivating, developing the land. The state must protect them. Anyone who exploits harvesting to produce terror must understand that there will be enforcement and zero tolerance in the face of violence and provocations."