Rivlin appeals for calm after on Israel civil unrest

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, whose figurehead office is meant to serve as the nation's moral compass, said the country was gripped by civil war and urged citizens to “stop this madness."

Speaking on a late night television interview on Wednesday, Rivlin called on Israeli citizens not to "go crazy" following violent clashes between Jewish and Arab mobs.

He said "we are citizens of one country, we are one society" and appealed to community leaders to calm the situation.

Late Wednesday, a Jewish mob attacked an Arab driver in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bat Yam, dragging him out of his car and beating him severely on live television.

Others vandalised Arab-owned stores in the city. The events in Bat Yam coincided with violent unrest in other cities across the country, with an Arab mob attacking and seriously injuring a Jewish man in Acre.

Image: AP