Netanyahu meets Druze leader amid violent protests over wind turbines
Israeli authorities ask Druze community leaders to calm the heated tempers, and to respect the legal procedure for building the wind turbines
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, Sheikh Mowafak Tarif, as violent protests erupted after thousands of Druze went to the site of Israel's largest renewable energy project on Wednesday.
The demonstrations were against the construction of a wind turbine farm in the Golan Heights. The prime minister, who hosted the Druze leader together with the Shin Bet chief Ronan Bar, shared his concerns about the unrest.
"I view with severity and concern what is currently happening in the Golan Heights," Netanyahu said.
The two leaders reportedly agreed on the suspension of construction works in the Golan Heights for at least a week and a half in exchange for the halt of the demonstrations.
The protestors threw stones, fireworks and Molotov cocktails at the police, endangering the lives of law enforcement officers, according to an Israeli police statement. One of the rioters, who apparently tried to attack the policeman with a pointed object, was slightly wounded in the leg.
According to the police statement, "dozens of Druze who arrived at the police station in the Golan tried to take over it using live fire, throwing stones and shooting fireworks."
The Israeli police had to call upon the border guards in order to secure the scene, and the security forces reacted by using riot dispersal methods. One of the policemen even fired live ammunition as a group of masked men armed with stones approached him.
Druze community leaders were called upon, asked to respect the legal procedure for building the wind turbines, and to calm the heated tempers. The Israeli authorities also urged people not to spread false information on social networks about the alleged destruction of vegetation.
In its statement, the police expressed the hope that the Druze community, which is "at the heart of Israeli society" and has always been "a model of respect for the law", would preserve its line of conduct and good relations with the rest of the country.