Arab politicians in Israel called for calm amid major outbreaks of violence in Arab-Israeli and mixed Jewish-Arab cities in Israel, which comes at the heels of heightened tensions in Jerusalem as well as rocket fire from Gaza on Tuesday.
Mansour Abbas of the Ra'am Party, a kingmaker in ongoing coalition negotiations, called on Arab leaders to promote calm in the community and prevent further deteriorations into violence.
"I ask all of you to take responsibility and act wisely, to preserve your lives and the lives of all the residents without exception. In the coming days, we will ... condemn and place the responsibility on those who should bear the responsibility, but now let's think logically, act logically and strive to all correct the situation," Abbas said in a statement to Ynet news.
Esawi Frej of the Meretz Party also called for solidarity between Arabs and Jews on Twitter.
"At this time it is forbidden to be silent! The anarchy in the streets of Ramle, Lod and other places threatens our existence as a society. We now have one task as public leaders - to work for calm, to [build] understanding between Arabs and Jews as neighbors and not enemies. Please, return to your houses and stop the violence," Frej said.
The Hadash faction of the Joint List claimed in a statement on Twitter that sending Border Police into Lod will only lead to more escalation and violence between Arabs and Jews.
They also claimed that the police do not have Arab interests at heart, saying in a statement that "its anti-Arab tendencies are known and such a thing could only lead to escalation."
Regarding the present security situation with Gaza, Hadash blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he is responsible and that the attacks were orchestrated in order to maintain his rule as prime minister.
On the issue of violence, Hadash said that "We support joint demonstrations by Jews and Arabs, against the occupation and the attack on Gaza, but resolutely reject the attempts to lynch, burn property and houses of worship, and any harm to civilians, Jews and Arabs."