Israeli opposition leader Yair Golan has sharply criticized caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing his administration of neglecting Arab citizens and leaving them vulnerable to criminal organizations. The criticism follows a deadly grenade attack in northern Israel that resulted in one fatality and multiple injuries.
“A bomb explodes in broad daylight in the village of Kafr Manda. People killed and many injured. This is what the Netanyahu government’s policy of neglect looks like,” Golan, leader of The Democrats party, posted on social media platform X.
Golan asserted that Netanyahu neglected the safety of Arab citizens in Israel, particularly by appointing Itamar Ben-Gvir as national security minister, which he claims effectively handed Arab communities over to criminal groups. He argued that these organizations have grown significantly stronger under the current leadership, posing a threat to the entire country.
“We will form a government of change that takes responsibility, fights criminal organizations and restores personal security to all Israeli citizens, Jews and Arabs,” Golan stated.
The victim of the attack, Lina Qassem Zidan, 51, was shopping at a sweets shop in a busy commercial area of Kafr Manda, an Arab town in the Galilee, when a grenade was thrown at the storefront. According to Israeli media, medics transported her to Rambam Hospital in Haifa in critical condition, where she was later pronounced dead. Two other individuals in their 50s sustained moderate injuries, while a fourth man suffered minor wounds.
Israeli authorities initially reported that the attackers were seeking a specific individual and threw the grenade at a shop owned by a relative after failing to locate him.
Zidan’s death brings the total number of homicide victims in Israel’s Arab communities to 200 since the beginning of the year, including 20 women, according to local media reports. Residents of Kafr Manda noted that homes and businesses have been targeted in a series of shootings and grenade attacks over the past month, without any arrests being announced.
Separately, Gadi Eisenkot, who has been tasked with forming Israel’s next government, accused Netanyahu of fueling a “racist and hostile” campaign aimed at delegitimizing Arab citizens, who comprise more than one-fifth of Israel’s population.
President Isaac Herzog assigned Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, the mandate to form a government on Nov. 8, following the Oct. 27 parliamentary elections. Lawmakers representing 67 seats in the 120-seat Knesset recommended Eisenkot for the role, while 46 backed Netanyahu, and seven United Torah Judaism lawmakers recommended neither candidate. Eisenkot has 28 days to form a coalition, with a potential 14-day extension.