Israel Arrests Four after Racist Vandalism

Israeli police on Tuesday arrested four people suspected of "acts of racist vandalism" in the north of the country, a police spokesman said.

"Four people suspected of acts of racist vandalism in the town of Yokneam were arrested and questioned by the police and the Shin Bet" internal security agency, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told Agence France Presse.

Media reports said one of those arrested admitted to vandalizing a dentist's practice belonging to Israel's Druze Arab minority.

So-called "price tag" attacks are nationalist-motivated hate crimes by Jewish extremists that mostly target Palestinian and Arab property, but have also included attacks on other non-Jews as well as leftwing Israelis and the security forces.

Attacks on Christians in Israel have also increased in recent weeks ahead of a papal visit beginning on Sunday, attracting concern from the Catholic Church in the Holy Land.