OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — The former head of Israel's Shin Bet security agency says its current leader does not take seriously recent vandalism by ultranationalist Jews of Palestinian and Arab Israeli property. Carmi Gillon says he believes Yoram Cohen does not invest enough resources to stop the vandalism. “He belittles the danger of these activities. He apparently does not prioritize this matter,” Gillon told Army Radio Sunday. A fringe of mostly radical settlers has carried out vandalism in recent years to protest Israeli policy and respond to actions by Palestinians, drawing condemnation by Israeli leaders but few arrests. The Anti-Defamation League recently urged Israel to increase crackdown efforts. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said this weekend, vandals struck a Palestinian village and near two Israeli cities, slashing tires, damaging olive trees and spraying hate graffiti. Meanwhile, Israeli police looking for evidence linked to a recent attack on a mosque were mobbed overnight by around 100 demonstrators at a West Bank settlement, a spokeswoman said Sunday. As concerns grow over the spiraling number of hate crimes by Jewish extremists against Palestinians and Arab Israelis — euphemistically referred to as “price tag” attacks — the Israeli authorities are coming under increasing pressure to tackle the phenomenon. “Our forces were attacked by about 100 residents, some of whom threw stones,” police spokeswoman Luba Samri said of the incident at Yitzhar settlement in the northern West Bank, a bastion of hardline settlers. — Agencies
