MK Eli Yishai (Shas), who, as interior minister in the last government advocated mass deportations of African migrant workers from Israel, warned Sunday that Israel was about to lose many parts of the country to violence perpetrated by migrants.
The remark came in response to a stabbing spree in southern Tel Aviv earlier on Sunday. The attacker, a Sudanese migrant, stabbed six people in a seemingly random rampage. One of the victims was seriously wounded in the attack, while the others sustained mild injuries. Three of the victims were Israeli citizens and three were foreigners, apparently from Eritrea. The suspect is in police custody.
"We have lost the right and the ability to wander around southern Tel Aviv at all hours of the day," Yishai told Channel 10 after the attack. "We are on our way to losing many more parts of Israel."
Yishai said that many of the violent incidents involving foreign infiltrators went unreported, but that the incidence of such violence is on the rise.
"The number of incidents is constantly escalating in every area where they congregate," said Yishai, describing southern Tel Aviv as the Wild West.
"The fear among local residents is rising accordingly. I hate to be the one to have to lift the blinders off the eyes of the bleeding hearts and the human rights organizations, but there is only one solution to this problem: returning the infiltrators to their countries of origin, or deporting them to a third country until they can be returned to their homes."
Former MK Michael Ben Ari (National Union) also condemned the attack, posting an invitation on his Facebook page to an impromptu protest in southern Tel Aviv near the city's central bus station.
"Today there was one attacker, and a number of people were stabbed. If we remain silent, we will soon long for this type of attack," Ben Ari wrote.
In the Facebook invitation, Ben Ari accused the African infiltrators of raising the crime rate in Israel.
"Our country is being conquered from within. The attacker from Sudan is not alone, and he is not the first. There have been murders, robberies and rapes," he said.
Ben Ari also directed his criticism at the current government, saying that "they continue to lie to the citizens, but fail to do anything." He called on the state authorities to "prevent the next murder."
The son of 67-year-old Yaakov Omrad, who was hurt in the attack, said Sunday that "everyone has been warning about the problem with the foreigners." Omrad, who owns a store in the central bus station area where there is a high concentration of migrant workers, is in a serious condition.
"We never thought to close the store, but we were constantly worried. In Dad's case, he has no choice but to stay there. It is the only income. This incident has shaken his confidence," said Omrad's son. "My father left the store to throw out the garbage and, from what I gathered from a neighbor, a brawl erupted in the Eritrean bar nearby."
Initially the police said the attacker had lashed out over an attack against his brother in Sudan. Later, the police claimed that the Israeli victims were hurt in efforts to break up a fight between two Sudanese men.
Thomas, an Eritrean national familiar with the suspect, said, "He became crazy. He stopped working and he used to hang around here. He is not normal."
Meanwhile, almost exactly 24 hours after the stabbing attack, three African migrants were hurt in a similar stabbing on the same street as the previous day's brawl. One person was moderately to seriously hurt and two others were lightly wounded.
The perpetrator is believed to be an African national as well.
Police investigators believe that the background behind Monday's attack is similar to that of Sunday's incident. The foreigners involved in the brawl are believed to have been intoxicated.
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