Twenty-four hours after police in central Israel cleared a complex under the
control of an alleged powerful Arab crime family, two senior officers involved
in the operation received telephone death threats on Tuesday.
Members of
the Abd Al- Khader family in Taiba threatened the city’s police chief Dep.-Cmdr.
David Pilo and a second officer whose identity is being withheld, police
said.
The unnamed officer received a threatening call to his personal
cellphone, a police spokeswoman added.
Police from the central district’s
Central Unit arrested nine members of the Abd Al- Khader family and brought them
in for questioning. The alleged death threats came a day after dozens of Taiba
police officers and border police officers under Pilo’s command raided the Taiba
complex.
Ten private CCTV cameras installed on premises, which filmed
public areas, were removed in the raid.
Bulldozers also demolished
roadblocks and waste piles set up in the area, which blocked public
roads.
“The Abd Al-Khader family is heavily involved in the crime world
in the area,” a police source said.
The raid is part of a new police
initiative to establish its presence in Arab-Israeli areas, which are plagued by
gun violence and crime.
Arab-Israeli officials and community leaders have
demanded that police enforce the law in their communities.
Police have
stepped up arms raids in Arab towns, seizing 250 firearms in 2011.
In a
recent interview with The Jerusalem Post, central police district head
Cmdr. Bentsi Sao said he identified a dramatic change in the approach to
police from the Arab Israeli public.
“They are calling for us to make our
presence felt in Arab areas,” he said.