the israeli incorporation regime69 against Palestinian citizens. While Israeli leaders tried to calm the tensions by appealing to the idea of coexistence, rather than denouncing the Jewish culprits, they argued that Acre’s Arab residents provoked the attacks. Moreover, Israeli border guards were pulled from the Ramallah area of the West Bank and sent to Acre to quell the riots, and the residents of the mixed cities of Haifa, Jaffa, Ramla, Lydd and Wadi Ara also experienced increased police presence.46 Taken together, the aftermath of the Acre riots and the State’s reaction was testimony to the security lens through which the Israeli government views Palestinian citizens. In the end, after three days of rioting and clashes, the Israeli police arrested fiftyfour residents, about half of them Jews and half Arabs. Yet, despite an acknowledgment by the Northern District Police commander stationed in the area during the riots that “Jews were the dominant factor in the breach of the peace in Acre,” most of the arrested Jewish youth were released while the reprimand of many Arab youths was extended.47 Further, on October 13, 2009 the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz reported that the Minister of Public Security and the Police Commissioner had decided to create a special secret unit to monitor the Arab population. Called the mistaravim unit, Jewish officers in this unit go “deep undercover” in Arab areas including East Jerusalem and the adjacent Arab villages.48 Though the official statement holds that the main purpose of the undercover unit is to monitor criminal activities, it is evident that its placement in predominantly Arab areas not only places the community within a security lens, but also enables the monitoring of their political activity. The 2008–2009 War on Gaza On 27 December 2008, Israel initiated “Operation Cast Lead,” an extensive military offensive in the Gaza Strip consisting of around twenty-three days 46 Ahiya Raved, “Akko Riots: Police ordered on heightened alert,” Ynet News, October 10, 2008, http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3607159,00.html; Ma’an News Agency, “Israeli border guards pulled from West Bank, sent to quell Acre riots,” October 12, 2008, http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=205596. 47 See Mtanes Shihadeh, “Israel and the Palestinian Minority: Bi-monthly Monitoring Report of Mada al-Carmel,” Jadal, no. 1 (January 2009), http://mada-research.org/ en/2009/01/08/jadal-issue-1-january-2009/. 48 “Mistaravim” is a Hebrew term, referring to Jewish police officers who go undercover among the Arab population. See Tomer Zarchin, “Secret police unit monitoring Israeli citizens,” Haaretz, October 13, 2009. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/secret -police-unit-monitoring-israeli-citizens-1.6196; Jack Khoury, “Israeli Arab MK: Undercover unit proves police see us as threat,” Haaretz, October 13, 2009, http://www.haaretz.com/ news/israeli-arab-mk-undercover-unit-proves-police-see-us-as-threat-1.6177.