Ethiopian Israelis arrested more often than rest of population - report

Ethiopian minors made up 3.8% more than the national average rate of arrests of minors in 2018. Ethiopian-Israelis constitute just 1.7% of the population of Israel.

Protesters stand opposite police during a protest for the death of 18-year old Solomon Tekah of Ethiopian descent, after he was shot by police, in Tel Aviv, Israel July 2, 2019 (photo credit: CORINNA KERN/REUTERS)
Protesters stand opposite police during a protest for the death of 18-year old Solomon Tekah of Ethiopian descent, after he was shot by police, in Tel Aviv, Israel July 2, 2019
(photo credit: CORINNA KERN/REUTERS)
Ethiopian Israeli minors and adults are over-represented in the number of total arrests in Israel in relation to their population size, a recent report discovered.
The report was conducted by a government unit established following a report about racism against Ethiopian immigrants to Israel by a committee headed by attorney Ami Palmor.
Ethiopian Israeli minors made up 3.8% more than the national average rate of arrests of minors in 2018 (1.6%), with them making up 5.4% of minors arrested in Israel.
Ethiopian Israeli minors were also over-represented in terms of indictments served against minors in Israel, with them making up 8.77% of indictments served against minors, which is 0.3% higher than the number of indictments served against the population in 2015.
The number of cases opened against Ethiopian Israeli minors in 2018 actually dropped 22.1% compared to 2015.
On the other hand, there was a 10.3% rise in the number of cases opened against adults within the community in the same period.
In 2018, 2.7% of all adults arrested in Israel were of Ethiopian descent. In 2015, Ethiopian Israeli adults made up 2.9% of adult arrests, so there was a minor drop in the number of relative arrests between the two years.
The number of indictments served against Ethiopian Israeli adults in 2018 made up 3.3% of all indictments served against adults in Israel. This marked a 0.6% rise compared to 2015.
Ethiopian Israelis constitute just 1.7% of the population of Israel.
In 2016, the Palmor Committee published its report into prejudice and discrimination against the Israeli-Ethiopian community following protests in 2015, and found that the police disproportionately targeted Israeli Ethiopians, with far higher levels of arrests, indictments and incarceration than other population sectors relative to the size of the population.
Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.