Two Israeli soldiers have been severely attacked in a public park by young Israelis who thought they were Arabs.

Both of the soldiers, from the elite units of Golani and Kafir, were accompanied by a woman when they were spotted on Friday evening in a park in the Israeli settlement of Pardes Hanna-Karkur near Haifa.

The young Israelis attacked the two Israeli soldiers, using a hookah and other blunt objects. The two soldiers suffered light wounds and were taken to hospital for treatment.

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The young Israelis screamed “these are Arabs,” the two soldiers told Channel 7: “They chanted phrases abusive to Arabs when they attacked us.”

Ynet News said that Israeli police have opened an investigation into the incident, which could have happened because the women who accompanied the two soldiers was known to the youths.

The father of one of the soldiers called the police after learning his son was in the hospital. “Soldiers go on vacation and are attacked by criminals just because they look like Arabs. It is a disgrace,” he told Ynet News.

He continued: “They lynched them; it could have ended in death. How did we stoop so low? And even if they were Arabs, should we harm them? We are shocked and demand that the lawbreakers be brought to justice.”

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