Two Israeli Arabs who were arrested with knives in Migdal HaEmek told their police interrogators that they were searching for Jews wearing kippot to stab. PHOTO: Twitter.

Two Arab youths arrested Tuesday in Migdal HaEmek in northern Israel, when they were caught with a knife and pocket-knife, told police interrogators on Wednesday that they had planned to stab Jews, Israeli news website nrg reported.

According to Northern District Police Commander Maj.-Gen. Zohar Dvir, the boys, from the nearby Arab village of Yafia, “were looking for a Jew with a kippah [to stab], so they went to a park in Migdal HaEmek, where they spotted a [Jewish] family,” but “the family felt uncomfortable by their presence and left the area,” before they had the opportunity to carry out the attack.

Immediately afterwards, Dvir said, the two made their way to a nearby gas station to buy cigarettes. There, duty manager Orly Goldstein thought something was suspicious about them and notified police.

Goldstein, who received an award for good citizenship and courage from Migdal HaEmek Mayor Eli Barda, said she had noticed the two youths because they seemed out of place in the area.

“A month ago, I might not have been suspicious,” said Goldstein. But, she said, in light of the recent flare-up of violence, she didn’t want to take any chances.

Dvir explained the motivation of the two teenagers, aged 16 and 17, to carry out such attacks. “One has to keep in mind that they are bombarded with wild incitement, full of lies and mostly censored.”

Moving from that point to the next step of “taking a knife and stabbing [someone] could be a matter of five or 10 minutes. It is the cumulative incitement over time which made them decide to act.”