The sharp rise in nationalistically motivated incidents in Judea and Samaria, known as "price tag" attacks, could trigger fresh Palestinian violence in the area, security officials warned Tuesday.
"Price tag" is the name given to acts of vandalism and violence by radical Jewish settlers against the Palestinian population.
Data obtained by Israel Hayom shows that while there were 79 price tag attacks in 2017, there have been 118 such incidents reported in 2018 so far.
Palestinians are growing increasingly agitated over the issue, and Israeli officials say that unless something is done to curb the phenomenon, the simmering tensions will reach boiling point sooner rather than later.
Several Palestinian villages and town have formed "defense committees" to locate Israelis vandals who scrawl graffiti, slash tires and sometimes even attempt to torch buildings.
Israeli security officials have raised concerns that if an Israeli vandal is caught by a Palestinian mob, he would be in danger of being lynched, an event that is sure to trigger significant escalation on the ground.
Sources in the Israel Police and Shin Bet security agency said they encounter legal difficulties when dealing with nationalistically motivated crimes of this nature.
They stressed that such acts are perpetrated by a handful of radicals, some of whom do not even live in Judea and Samaria, and that the leaders of the settlement enterprise have repeatedly denounced such acts, to little avail.
