It is time to have a serious conversation about a topic that most people might only be aware of if they keep up with Hebrew written media.
On June 8, five Arab Israelis were shot dead at a car wash in Yafa an-Naseriyye, an Arab town near Nazareth. One of the victims was only 15 years old. That same day, another Arab Israeli man was fatally shot in a drive-by near the central city of Kafr Kassem.
The wave of bloody violence would only get worse from that point. A day after Thursday’s series of shootings, 18-year-old Sarit Ahmad was shot dead in northern Israel in her car just outside her hometown of Kisra-Sumei. Ahmad had been a victim of a lot of violence due to her sexual orientation, and she had filed multiple police reports in the past. Hours after Ahmad’s murder, 21-year-old Atiya Abu Sabila, a Bedouin Israeli from the South, was stabbed to death by foreign workers.
Media outlets described this wave of Arab murders as “one of the deadliest acts of violence in recent years, amid the worst crime waves to hit the minority over the past decade.”
Arab Israeli violence at an all-time high
This couldn’t be a more accurate description of the current situation since violence in the Arab Israeli community has reached an all-time high. Over 100 Arab Israelis have been killed in crime-related incidents since the start of 2023. To put this into perspective, the Abraham Initiative, which monitors crime and fatalities in the Arab Israeli community, reported that this year’s death toll from violent crime has tripled since last year.
Unfortunately, this is not a new phenomenon; there has been a persistent rise in violent crime that has afflicted Arab Israeli communities for years while feeble attempts by law enforcement and the government to confront these issues. Last month, the Knesset’s National Security Committee reported that 500 Arab Israelis were killed in Israel between 2018-2022 over violent crimes. The Times of Israel reveals that this violence stems from various factors, including familial conflicts, mafia turf wars and the scourge of violence against women.
And yet, despite this violence being a growing concern, Arab Israeli communities have endured years of neglect, with nobody taking action to stop these deaths.
Arab Israeli community leaders are blaming the police for not taking action to deal with these issues. They also blame Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for not tackling the violence.
Amid the relentless bloodshed, half a dozen former police chiefs appealed directly to Ben-Gvir, urging him to relinquish his position. Given Ben-Gvir’s racist history, he is undoubtedly not the person the Arab Israeli community will trust or cooperate with during a crisis.
But with these alarming numbers, the government no longer has a choice and must take action.
In response to the bloody murders last week, Netanyahu decided to form a committee with Arab lawmakers to discuss possible solutions. The prime minister also announced a new plan to involve Israel’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet, to target the criminals.
The problem is that ever since Netanyahu announced his plan, Arab politicians, community leaders and the Shin Bet itself have shown little support for it.
The Shin Bet’s main objective is to investigate, prevent and thwart terrorism internally. The agency rarely gets involved in matters of public crime, except for the coronavirus and the May 2021 Gaza conflict, where it had to get involved with the riots and violence rooted in nationalistic tendencies. Reports state that having the agency deal with isolated crime issues could drain resources from combating terror.
This job, they argue, is meant for the police, which are facing ongoing issues, including a workforce shortage, terrible salaries and horrible hours.
Arab Israeli leaders have argued that involving the Shin Bet will further threaten the basic rights of Israel’s Arab population, who are already systematically targeted by the police and will allow intrusive methods that invade human rights.
The Shin Bet methods are meant for Israel’s enemies, not its citizens.
Jerusalem Post senior correspondent Herb Keinon wrote an incredible analysis of this topic titled “Shin Bet not magic wand to stop Israeli Arab sector killings.” In his breakdown, he writes, “There are no quick fixes in bringing down crime in the Arab sector,” and that instead of resorting to the Shin Bet, the only way to fix the problem will require a series of steps. He mentions that the Bennett-Lapid government budgeted about NIS 2.5 billion for stopping violent crime and drew up a holistic approach to tackle the issue. The Safe Track plan included steps aimed at dismantling organized crime, targeting the sources of funds for organized crime, cracking down on arms smuggling, strengthening governance in the Arab sector and building trust and increasing cooperation with Arab local authorities.
Unfortunately, this plan reversed itself once Ben-Gvir became national security minister.
I don’t pretend to be an expert in fighting violent crime in a community, nor can I effectively analyze which plan would prevent the most deaths. Still, I do know that Israel cannot ignore the desperate needs of 20% of her population.
According to experts, Arab gangs and criminal organizations have accumulated significant caches of illicit weaponry over the past 20 years and are involved in drugs, arms and human trafficking, prostitution, extortion and money laundering. Ignoring violence in one community is not just wrong on a moral basis; it will put the rest of Israeli society at risk.
Crime in the Arab sector won’t stay there; it will also bleed into the rest of the country. Our government and police should not wait until eight innocent Arabs are shot to death on the streets or when the violence eventually seeps into Tel Aviv.
We have to do better for all Israelis.
The writer is a social media activist with more than 10 years of experience working for Israeli, Jewish causes and cause-based NGOs. She is the co-founder and the COO of Social Lite Creative, a digital marketing firm specializing in geopolitics.