Israel to tighten enforcement in Arab towns after Tel Aviv shooting attack: PM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that Israel will increase enforcement against lawlessness in the Arab sector, following a Friday shooting attack by an Arab Israeli which left two people dead.

Netanyahu, who arrived at the scene of Friday's attack on Dizengoff Street in central Tel Aviv, said authorities will "dramatically increase" police enforcement in Arab towns.

"We will open new police stations, recruit more police officers, go into all towns and demand of everyone loyalty to the laws of the state," Netanyahu told reporters on Saturday.

Although the right-wing prime minister acknowledged Arab leaders' condemnation of the killings and the fact that most Arab Israelis are law-abiding citizens, he did say authorities should quell "Muslim incitement."

"There is wild incitement by radical Islam in the Arab sector," Netanyahu said, adding that those who wish to be Israeli citizens "must be fully Israeli, both in rights and in obligations" and must "abide by the laws of the state."

Two Israelis, Alon Bakal and Shimon Ruimi, died in Friday's shooting attack and six others were injured in moderate to serious condition.

The suspect was identified as Nashat Milhem, a 29-year-old Arab Israeli from the Arab village of Arara in northern Israel. He was identified by his father, who spotted him at surveillance footage which surfaced on Israeli media outlets, and reported his identity to the authorities.

The suspected gunman fled the scene of the attack and security forces are still searching for him. He served time in an Israeli prison in the past for snatching a soldier's weapon and diagnosed as mentally unstable by professionals in the prison. His cousin was killed by Israeli policemen in 2006.

The suspect's father, Muhammad, expressed his deep sorrow for the incident, announcing he is a law-abiding citizen, and hoped forces would find him soon. Muhammad works in security and the weapon his son used is licensed.

Arab Israelis are Palestinians who chose to stay in Israel after the 1948 War and became Israeli citizens, constituting 20 percent of the population. Endit