Israel police announced Thursday that the alleged “price tag” attack in the Arab village of Kusra last week was fabricated and staged by Arabs for propaganda purposes.
Police had received a report of six burned cars in the village of Kusra, located in Samaria, and blue Israeli identification card was found on site. The media publicized that the arson was the work of Israelis, a so-called price tag operation, in retaliation of the destruction of Jewish homes the previous week by the Israeli government
The police carried out an intensive investigation the police, including questioning several residents of Kusra, whose statements were not compatible with the findings at the scene. The Israeli ID card belonged to a soldier who dropped it a few days earlier while on a mission in the village.
Aish Kodesh, a nearby Jewish community was implicated by the media in the alleged attack on Kusra. Aish Kodesh spokesman Aharon Katsof told Tazpit News Agency, “We have stated throughout the entire time that this was a Palestinian provocation against Aish Kodesh. In the past months we have been assaulted on a daily basis by hundreds of Arab vandals who destroy our property and fields, throw stones and fire-bombs at our homes, causing us tremendous financial loss.
“Albeit our repetitive requests, the IDF has not provided sufficient security to our families, and we have recently learned that the army has further decreased its presence in the area, which will bring to an increase in the Arab attacks against us. The solving of this case proves again that the Arabs are constantly trying to stage provocations and their claims are accepted without proper scrutiny. The damaged caused to the community’s name as a result of the media publications is immense.”
Despite dozens of alleged attacks on Arabs by Israeli residents of Judea and Samaria, no Israeli has been tried or convicted on such charges.
The supposed attack on Kusra is not the first case in which the vandalism turned out to be a staged provocation, local criminal activity or Arab infighting.