Violence is spreading in Israel. These pictures are the reason why the president is talking about civil war.

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The driver gives gas, but cars in front of him make the mob catch him. They bang on the car as they open the driver’s door and pick him up. Then they hit and kick him until he lies lifeless on the asphalt.

The reason he was attacked?

The mob suspected that he was an Arab. This is just one of many attacks between Jews and Arabs in several Israeli cities in recent days.

The driver was attacked by what is described as an ultra-nationalist Jewish mob in the Tel Aviv sense of Bat Yam. He is hospitalized where employees describe his injuries as serious.

His identity has not been released. It is therefore not clear whether he is in fact an Arab.

The powerful clashes show that the rage is spreading in Israel. It is probably ignited by the situation in the Gaza Strip. In the past week, Islamists in the Palestinian enclave have fired at least 1,800 rockets at several Israeli cities.

At the same time, Israel has responded with harsh counterattacks.

As of Friday afternoon, 119 people had been reported killed in the Gaza Strip and seven in Israel.

Talking about civil war

The situation is so explosive that president Reuven Rivlin asks people to stop what he calls madness.

– We live in fear of rockets being sent towards citizens and streets, and then we start with this meaningless civil war, Rivlin says.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also asking people to calm down.

– It does not matter if your blood boils. You can not take the law into your own hands, he says. The Prime Minister himself visited two cities that have been hit by clashes this week.

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For many, the clashes in Israeli cities come as an addition to constant sirens that they must hide because more rockets are coming from the Gaza Strip.

Maria Rozen (45) is Jewish and lives in Lod. She tells Aftenposten that her family is sleeping fully clothed because of the sirens. Nevertheless, she finds the internal struggles between Israeli Jews and Arabs even worse.

– What worries me the most is this civil war. My own Arab neighbors burn cars and synagogues and attack the houses of their neighbors, she says.

Arab Majd Abu Raha (21) has a very different experience. She is from Haifa and tells what happened when she and some friends went out to demonstrate.

– We were only out to support our brothers in Gaza. Then we were attacked by extremists and Israeli soldiers, he tells Aftenposten.

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Arabs make up just over 20 percent of the population in Israel. There are descendants of Palestinians who lived under the Ottoman Empire and then British colonial rule until Israel was established in 1948.

When Israel was created, many fled or were hunted down. These are the descendants of those who remained.

They have Israeli citizenship and full rights. Many still feel like second-class citizens and complain about systematic discrimination. Traditionally, Arab citizens in Israel have supported the Palestinian cause.

Killing led to new battles

When police broke in and ended a demonstration in Lod on Monday, an Arab man was shot and killed. According to police, he was part of a group of rebels who threatened Jewish property. Jewish citizens opened fire while in a life-threatening situation, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

The incident escalated the situation.

During his funeral the next day, new battles broke out. A number of cars were set on fire. It also became a synagogue. A 56-year-old Jewish man was seriously injured when Arabs threw stones at his car.

Then the violence spread to other cities with both Jewish and Arab populations. In Ramla, near Lod, nationalist Jewish protesters vandalized cars owned by Arabs. In Akko, a well-known Jewish seafood restaurant was set on fire.

“They say Gaza is spinning out of control, but what is happening here scares me more,” Majd Abado told Reuters. He is an Arab resident of Akko.

According to police, 270 people have been arrested in 40 different cities and villages around Israel. They are accused of destroying cars and property.

– The Arabs do not want us here, but we will stay, says Avraham Sagron. He is a Jew who lives in Lod and talks to the news agency AP while he sees the burnt entrance to the synagogue.

Israel’s ambassador to Norway, Alon Roth, says it is important to remember that there is a very small minority protesting.

– It’s not a civil war. What we see here are extremists doing stupid things. They want to set fire to the situation. The vast majority on both sides do not agree with this, says Roth.

He himself comes from the city of Haifa, where both Jews and Arabs live.

– The Arab population in Israel feels badly treated. Do they have a reason for that?

– It’s an interesting question. I have so many friends in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who are Arabs. There are Arabs in the Knesset National Assembly. And there are Arabs who work at hospitals and in other institutions. We have Arab judges and equality before the law. There are some extremists who want to portray Arabs being treated badly, says Roth.

Here is Lod:

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