Netanyahu condemns racism against Israeli Arabs

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned racism against Israeli Arabs, and vandalism attacks against Palestinians.

“I would like to strongly condemn recent phenomena of racism against Israeli Arabs and hooliganism against Palestinians, which were without any provocation or justification whatsoever. We strongly reject these phenomena and will act with all legal means at our disposal to stop them,” Netanyahu said at the start of the regular weekly Cabinet meeting.

Netanyahu was reacting to reports that an Israeli amusement park in central Israel was renting out its facilities on separate days for Jewish and Arab school trips.

Superland in Rishon LeZion said late last week that the segregated days were established at the  request of some Israeli junior and senior high schools booking end-of-the-year student fun days.

The segregation came to light after a seventh-grade teacher at an Arab school posted on his Facebook page that he had been unable to book a particular date using his own name, but that when he called and identified himself by a Jewish name he was able to secure the date.

Netanyahu also was reacting to recent vandalism attacks against Palestinian targets in the West Bank, believed to be price tag attacks, in which Palestinian cars were torched or had their tires slashed and graffiti was spray painted on nearby walls.