The head of the Jadeidi-Makr Local Council and his deputy were shot overnight Monday in what police described as a serious attempted murder targeting elected officials.
Emergency services were called to the northern town shortly after midnight following reports of a shooting. Magen David Adom said paramedics treated two men at the scene, one aged 49 in moderate condition and another in his 50s in serious condition, both suffering from gunshot wounds.
MDA paramedic Hareth Khalib said the 49-year-old victim was conscious when medical teams arrived.
“We saw a 49-year-old man who was wounded by gunfire while conscious,” Khalib said. “We provided him with life-saving medical treatment and evacuated him to the hospital in moderate condition. Another wounded person, a man in his 50s, was evacuated from the scene while conscious and suffering from severe gunshot wounds to his body, with his condition serious.”
Large police forces from the Western Galilee station were dispatched to the scene, where officers began searching for suspects, collecting evidence, and setting up roadblocks in the area.
Police chief: Shooting of elected officials ‘crossed a red line’
Police Commissioner Danny Levi held a situation assessment following the shooting and said the attack was being treated with the highest level of urgency.
“The serious shooting incident, in which the head of the Jadeidi-Makr Local Council and his deputy were shot, constitutes the crossing of a red line,” Levi said in a statement. “This was a direct attack on elected officials, on symbols of government, and on the ability of state authorities to operate safely on behalf of the public.”
Levi said Israel Police had opened a “determined, swift, and uncompromising investigation,” which was assigned to the Coastal District Central Unit and placed at the top of the force’s priorities.
“The investigative team has been allocated all of the capabilities, resources, and technological and operational tools of Israel Police required to locate the suspects and bring them fully to justice,” he said.
Levi also warned that police would respond forcefully to attacks on public officials.
“Our message to all lawbreakers is clear and unequivocal: We will act firmly and decisively against anyone who chooses to harm civilians and elected officials, and against anyone who attempts to threaten the rule of law wherever and whenever necessary,” he said.
The commissioner said that was reflected in the recent solving of the attempted assassination of the mayor of Arraba and his deputy, following what he described as an intensive and complex investigation by the Northern District Central Unit.
According to the investigation into the Arraba case, the background to that incident was municipal waste-disposal tenders.
Herzog says incident constitutes a 'strategic threat'
President Isaac Herzog on Monday condemned the overnight shooting, saying it reflected a wider wave of violence that posed a strategic threat to Israel.
“I was shocked to hear of the attempted murder overnight of the council head and his deputy,” Herzog said. “This is a grave and deeply disturbing incident, joining the intolerable wave of violence harming Arab society and claiming many victims almost every day.”
Herzog called the violence “a strategic threat to the State of Israel,” adding that it joins “severe and serious manifestations of violence in different parts of our society.”
He called for “a fight against this terrible phenomenon using every tool at our disposal.”