Case closed in killing of Israeli Arabs

Israel's attorney general said Sunday that no police officers will be prosecuted in connection with the killing of 13 Israeli Arabs during anti-government riots in 2000, a decision that angered relatives.

Attorney General Menachem Mazuz cited insufficient evidence, according to a statement from the Justice Ministry.

Thousands of Israeli Arabs rioted in the north of the country for several days in October 2000 in solidarity with the Palestinian uprising that was then erupting in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Arab protesters blocked off roads and threw rocks, fire bombs and in some incidents opened fire at police.

Officers at the time complained they did not have enough non-lethal crowd dispersal gear and were heavily outnumbered by the violent mobs.

Police opened fire, and killed 13 rioters just outside the Israeli Arab town of Um el-Fahm in northern Israel. It was the most serious outbreak of violence among Israel's minority Arabs in more than 20 years.

Mazuz described the killings as "terrible and worrying" but said there was not enough evidence to warrant indictments. He cited refusal of the families to allow autopsies of the dead as one of his reasons.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel condemned the decision.

"This alarming trend suggests that it's acceptable and even lawful for the police not to be held responsible for killing Arab citizens," the group said in a statement.

Abdel Abu Salah, whose son Walid was among those killed, told Channel 2 TV that the attorney general's decision "is a black stain on Israeli democracy and deepens the chasm between Jews and Arabs."

"This gives the green light for attacks on Arabs," he said. During hearings of a commission investigating the riots, Abu Salah assaulted a police officer who was testifying.

Israeli Arab outrage over the killings only intensified after the inquiry cleared all the police officers involved.

Arab citizens of Israel make up about 20 percent of the country's mainly Jewish population. They enjoy full rights but have suffered from discrimination through decades of Israeli governments.