President Isaac Herzog met with local community leaders in Sakhnin on Thursday in response to the recent rise in violence within Arab society in Israel.
Addressing the rise in crime, Herzog stated that 250 innocent Israeli citizens have been murdered in Arab society in 2025, with more than 15 people killed since the beginning of January alone.
“These are shocking numbers - an unacceptable situation,” he remarked. “The fight against crime and violence in Arab society must be at the top of national priorities and addressed with the utmost determination.
"It is time to stop the infighting between authorities and ministries and to act together - through legislation, enforcement, and all necessary tools - to prevent the next tragedy. This is a national mission. It is also a moral obligation. We must erase this stain from the face of Israeli society.”
During his visit, Herzog stopped by a supermarket run by Ali Zubeidat, the founder of the protest movement against crime affecting Arab communities. He also spoke with Qasem Awad, the father of Dr. Abdallah Awad, who was murdered in a clinic in Kfar Yasif in February 2025.
“I stand here alongside a bereaved father, whose son, Dr. Abdallah, was murdered while doing the most noble thing of treating his patients, including a mother and her two children," Herzog said.
"He was brutally killed in the middle of a clinic in Kfar Yasif. This was a criminal and incomprehensible act. To you, dear Qasem, and to the public, I wish to express my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and tell them: you are not alone. The State of Israel cares. Your pain is the pain of an entire nation.”
In response to Herzog's remarks, Awad emphasized that Arab Israeli citizens are an important faction of the state of Israel.
“We are an inseparable part of the State of Israel, and we will never give that up. But the state and the government have a basic obligation toward us to protect our security," he said. “We are law-abiding citizens who want to live in peace, with dignity and security.
"We do not want weapons, we do not want violence, and we do not want revenge. The responsibility to address crime and eradicate violence lies with the State of Israel. The closer we get, the more we discover how similar we are and how shared our desire is to live, to study, and to raise children in safety.”
2025 named deadliest year on record for crime in Arab sector
2025 was the deadliest year ever for Arab society in Israel, according to an Abraham Initiatives report published in December.
The nonprofit's annual report indicated that violence has become an ongoing scourge for Arab Israelis.
In 2025, 252 Arab Israelis were killed in 218 incidents of violence and crime, compared with 230 murders in 2024, it said.
Some 88% of the victims were shot to death, which the NGO attributed to the lethality of firearms and their intolerable availability. More than 72% of those murdered were between the ages of 18 and 40, and more than half of them were between 18 and 30.