The threat posed to Israeli society by violent crime is no less severe than
external strategic threats, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch
warned, during an annual conference on stemming violence that took place in
Eilat on Wednesday.
“During these days, when the whole of the public’s
awareness is focused on [events] beyond our borders, it is important to
reemphasize that the internal threat is no less severe, and possibly more
severe, than the external threat... and it could, over time cause the collapse
of society,” Aharonovitch said.
The government is obligated to ensure that
sufficient budgets and resources are available to combat violent crime
and
ensure the rule of law, he added.
“Violence does not stop, and it takes no
rest stops,” the public security minister declared.
The anti-violence
conference brought together community leaders, police officials, social
workers
and others. A major area of discussion was the City Without Violence
program.
The program, founded in 2004, has spread to 78 regional councils
and aims to coordinate efforts by the central government with those of
local
councils, schools and social services to reduce violent crime in urban
areas.
It has seen large numbers of closed-circuit TV cameras installed in
parks and schools, transmitting live video feeds to municipal control
rooms.
According to data released by the program, violent incidents have
dropped across several urban areas in which the program was
implemented.
The government covers 47 percent of the cost, while the
International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, headed by Rabbi Yechiel
Eckstein, pays for 38%. Local authorities pay for the remaining
15%.
During his address, Aharonovitch thanked all of the agencies involved
in City Without Violence and offered a “special thanks” to Eckstein and
the
IFCJ, “who have donated to this program from the very start... and who
have
accompanied us and will continue to accompany us.”