None hurt in Saturday night's Molotov cocktail attack; Yeshiva representatives: We won't be intimidated.
By YAAKOV LAPPIN, MATTHEW WAGNERfire generic 224.88(photo credit: Courtesy)
Arson caused a blaze that badly damaged an office in the hesder yeshiva in Acre on Sunday morning and threatened to reignite the rioting that battered the city for several days starting on Yom Kippur, police and firefighters say.
Police were tight-lipped about the investigation of the fire, saying only that arson was the cause.
While no violence had broken out as of Sunday evening, police said they were on alert for the very real possibility of a flare-up.
"We don't see signs of things happening at this time, but things can happen beneath the surface where we don't have control. This kind of incident certainly doesn't bring people together," Galilee Police spokesman Ch.-Insp. Eran Shaked said.
On Sunday evening, police arrived in numbers to guard - and possibly to monitor - dozens of yeshiva students who came to sing and dance outside the targeted building.
"We came to protect them," Shaked said. "The situation is very dynamic. It's difficult to say what we'll be doing tomorrow."
Acre police did not call in the reinforcements seen in the days after the Yom Kippur riots, when 1,000 officers and border policemen flooded the city, but they were holding regular evaluations of the situation.
"We have forces here that allow us to provide pinpoint responses, should they be needed. Our ongoing evaluations are based on incoming intelligence, when we receive it, and past experiences. These guide our responses," Shaked said.
The yeshiva, Ru'ah Tzfonit (The Spirit of the North), will make a conscious effort to show its Arab neighbors that it will not be intimidated by what yeshiva representatives said was a firebombing attack.
"We are here to stay," said Dorel Avramovitz, the yeshiva's administrative director. "We will not cave in to bullying. Studies resume on Tuesday as scheduled. We refuse to make any changes that would give the impression that we are intimidated by Arab threats."
According to Avramovitz, at about 3:30 on Sunday morning, unidentified attackers broke the window of the yeshiva and threw a Molotov cocktail inside. The school's office suffered serious damage, but no one was hurt and no holy books were burned.
Yeshiva head Rabbi Yosef Stern said the arsonists were "a group of bullies who are threatened by our Zionist, Jewish activities here. But we will not be dragged into a confrontation with them, nor will we deviate from our goal of strengthening the Jewish presence in the city."
On Sunday evening the yeshiva organized an outdoor prayer rally, including dancing and speeches.
Ru'ah Tzfonit is located in Acre's Wolfson neighborhood. Approximately three-quarters of the area's residents are Arab.
Four years ago the yeshiva, which opened seven years ago, relocated to Wolfson to reinforce the dwindling Jewish community and to reopen a synagogue that had closed.
The yeshiva currently has 170 students.
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