Wave of Vandalism Targets Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank

Alleged “price tag” actions took place early Wednesday morning in Jerusalem, in two Palestinian villages in the Jordan Valley and near Ramallah, evidently to mark 30 days since the murder of Eviatar Borovsky, who was stabbed to death by a Palestinian man at the Tapuah junction on April 30.

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In the village of Zubeidat northeast of Jericho, five cars were torched and graffiti spray-painted with messages that read “30 days since Evyatar – may God avenge his death.” In the village of Marj en-Naaja, four more cars were set ablaze and graffiti spray-painted nearby reading, “Regards from Evyatar, may God avenge his death.”

The IDF said in response views the incidents with utmost seriousness. "The army sees incidents of this kind, which undermine the relative security stability in the area, as severe.”

Residents of the villages where the cars were set ablaze told Haaretz that this was the first time in many years that Arab property had been damaged. Jordan Valley Regional Council head David Elhayani visited both villages this morning and said, “The people who committed these acts of arson are not sane. They’re trying to destroy the good relations between Jews and Arabs in the Jordan Valley.”

Another “price tag” attack was discovered in the village of Rantis, west of Ramallah, where two cars were torched and the words “30 days since Eviatar” were spray-painted.

In Jerusalem, the tires of seven cars were punctured. Four of the cars were in the French Hill neighborhood and three were at the entrance to the Shuafat neighborhood. The words “Jewish blood is not...” were spray-painted on each car.

Wednesday's incidents come on the heels of another “price tag” attack that was committed after, and supposedly in response to, Borovsky’s murder. Two weeks earlier, the phrase “In memory of Eviatar” was spray-painted in the Arab village of Nein, near Afula.

Three weeks earlier, cars belonging to four members of the same family in the village of Akbara, near Safed, were set ablaze. Near the burned-out cars at the entrance to the village, graffiti had been spray-painted, reading: “Don’t touch our girls. Price tag.”

Last Sunday, the former deputy director of the Shin Bet, Yitzhak Ilan, mentioned that the security services were not successful in preventing the attacks or arresting the perpetrators. “The legal tools used against the ‘price tag’ activists are not suitable for the current situation,” he said.