Israeli police have arrested an Arab man who drove into a Jewish neighbourhood of the northern city of Acre on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur sparking four nights of riots.

"Tawfik Jamal was remanded in custody for three days for reckless endangerment and harming religious sensitivities," Micky Rosenfeld, a police spokesman, said on Tuesday.

Jamal was detained on Monday night, despite having apologised for what he said was a "mistake" when he appeared before parliament's interior committee the previous day.

A group of Jewish youths assaulted Jamal, accusing him of deliberately making noise and disrupting the sanctity of Yom Kippur, when most Israelis observe a religious ban on driving.

At least three people were injured in the nights that followed as groups of Arab and Jewish youths clashed with each other and police. Arab homes were torched, while more than 100 cars and 40 shops were damaged.

'Politically motivated' 

Arab politicians said that the arrest was politically motivated and demanded Jamal immediate release.

"I am sure some Jews also drove on Yom Kippur. Will the police arrest them?" Abbas Zkoor, an Arab member of parliament from Acre, asked.

While Ahmad Tibi, another MP, said: "It is the first time anyone is arrested for harming religious sensitivities.

"Police caved in to pressure from the fascist right which demanded his arrest, demonstrating it is a Jewish, racist and idiotic police.

"I wonder if the Israeli government will in future arrest Jews who eat or drink in mixed cities during Ramadan," he said in reference to the Muslim month of fasting.

Arabs with Israeli citizenship, the descendants of those who remained when the Jewish state was created in 1948, make up about 20 per cent of the Israeli population.

The ancient port of Acre is populated by both Jews and Arabs who live in adjacent and some mixed neighbourhoods.