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| - Israel's president on Wednesday denounced what he described as a "pogrom" carried out by "a bloodthirsty Arab mob", in the mixed Jewish-Arab city of Lod, where a state of emergency has been declared. "The sight of the pogrom in Lod and the disturbances across the country by an incited and bloodthirsty Arab mob, injuring people, damaging property and even attacking sacred Jewish spaces is unforgivable," President Reuven Rivlin said in a statement. The unrest in Lod, south of Tel Aviv, has seen Jewish businesses and homes vandalised, while Jewish residents have also hurled rocks at Arab residents. "Tearing down the Israeli flag by Arab rioters and replacing it with the Palestinian flag is a brutal assault on shared existence in the State of Israel," added Rivlin, whose role is largely ceremonial. After earlier calling for Arab Israeli leaders to speak out against the violence, he said: "The silence of the Arab leadership about these disturbances is shameful." The president said Israelis needed "to be ready and armed, strong and determined, prepared to defend our home". bs/pjm/fz
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