Israel: Shin Bet calls Jewish-Arab violence 'terror for all intents and purposes'
Israel's internal security service actively working to prevent violent rioting in mixed cities
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) on Friday said that it was working alongside the Israel Police in dealing with the violent ethnic clashes taking place this week in mixed Jewish-Arab cities across Israel.
The security service called the rioting “terror for all intents and purposes" and said that it is using its intelligence-gathering capabilities to prevent violent confrontations and to find and prosecute the perpetrators.
"We will not allow violent lawbreakers to control terrorism on the streets of Israel, neither by Arabs nor by Jews," Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman said in a statement.
Argaman continued: "In full cooperation with the Israel Police, the GSS [Shin Bet] will use all its collection and counterterrorism capabilities and work against anyone who tries to harm Israeli citizens, Jews and Arabs, until peace returns to the streets of the country."
Shin Bet said that agents are operating in the cities and areas across Israel where the violent rioting and clashes have been taking place.
Further violence erupted Thursday evening in several mixed cities of Israel. In Jaffa, a 19-year-old IDF soldier was severely beaten and Arab rioters burned a fifth synagogue in the central Israel city of Lod.