Minister Uzi Landau told Arutz-7 yesterday that the Ohr Commission "was born in sin. It was decided upon by then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak simply because he wanted support from the Arab sector, no matter what the cost to Israel. One of the results was a knife in the back of the police. We had just begun a new war against the Palestinians [in the Oslo War], and the police were the only body to stand up and block the anarchy that faced us when some Arabs staged a rebellion."
These words by Landau were reminiscent of criticism raised against the decision immediately after it was made. NRP MK Shaul Yahalom said at the time, "This means that we are telling the police that we dont trust them, and each policeman will have to walk around with a lawyer before he takes any action. He'll say to himself that he might as well not 'get involved' " Yahalom's party colleague then-MK Zevulun Orlev was optimistic, however, saying that the investigation would show that the Arabs unjustly instigated the riots.
The Israeli-Arab rioting in the first week of October featured hundreds of violent incidents against Israeli police and civilians, including dozens of attacks on Jewish towns and citizens. Below are two sample incidents, as reported by Arutz-7 at the time:
"Gershon Adani, a 35-year-old father of two, from the Galilee town of Oshrah near Acre, described what happened to him yesterday: 'I was on my way home, when suddenly I was stopped by a mob of Israeli-Arabs. They were stopping all the drivers, and asking to see their papers. They let the Arab drivers go, but not the Jewish ones. I started to tell them that I was their neighbor, and have lived here among them for years, etc., but they began pelting me with bricks, rocks, and anything else... I ran into the car, locked the door shut, and somehow was able to get through the roadblock. I was hurt very badly. I got to a police checkpoint, but they couldn't help me because the ambulance was not able to get through the Arab roadblock."
"Yaakov Ben-Hamu, 35, of Kibbutz Beit Alfa, was driving east along the Wadi Iron (Wadi Ara) highway yesterday, between Um el-Fahm and Afula, when his way was blocked by some 15 masked Arabs. They noticed that he was Jewish, dragged him out of the car, and began kicking and punching him. The driver of a passing bus saw what was happening and picked him up; there was nothing left for Ben-Hamu to do but watch out the window as the Arabs torched his car "