The Rosh Hashana Arab Assault is an Israeli name for the Arab rioting that broke out on September 28, 2000 and was the opening of the Oslo War, which is an Israeli name for what Arabs call the al-Aqsa Intifada.

The term relates both to the Palestinian riots (see further discussion in al-Aqsa Intifada) and the internal riots by the Israeli Arabs which are known as the October Riots.

October 2000 Riots

On October, Israeli-Arabs, citizens of Israel, started violent riots in which main roads (such as Wadi Ara road) were blocked while banks and stores were set on fire and Jewish civilians were assulted by the Arab rioters. The Israeli Police reacted by sending crowd-control units to try to break up and put down the riots. Jan Bechor , an Israeli civilian from Rishon LeZion was stoned to death by an Arab mob near Jasar az-Zarka . Policemen opened fire with rubber-coated bullets and later with live ammunition on the rioters, and snipers were deployed. The result was serious: 12 Israeli-Arabs and 1 Palestinian were killed by police fire. Following the use of snipers, the riots were suppressed and order was restored.

Following the riots, there was a high degree of tension between Jewish and Arab citizens and distrust between the Arab citizens and police. An investigation committee, head by Judge Theodore Or , reviewed the violent riots and found that the police were poorly prepared to handle such riots and charged major officers with bad conduct. The Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak was reprimanded and Shlomo Ben-Ami (then the Internal Security Minister) were found unworthy to serve as a minister. The Or Committee also blamed Arab leaders and Knesset members for incitement to violence and spreading hatred of Israel.