An increase in Arab fatalities has impacted at least 109 Arab lives this year alone, mostly due to organized crime. While often ignored or deemed uncontrollable by Israeli authorities, the violence has reached a point where premeditated murder is taking place in broad daylight in the popular city streets of Jaffa and Jerusalem – and something needs to be done.
In a meeting to combat Arab violence, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett declared “we are properly dealing with problems that we have become used to — that nothing could be done about them, that they are chronic — problems that are usually pushed away. Crime in the Arab community, especially…quantities of illegal weapons that are enough for a small army — the arsenal that has accumulated and expanded over many years, needs to be emptied.”
A big step was taken after Israeli police confiscated large weapon arsenals in Arab cities last week, where 65 suspects were arrested. Police forces have also increased their residential presence, though the confidence of Israeli Arabs runs very low. While Arabs make up a fifth of the Israeli population, over half live in poverty and suffer from poor infrastructure, education, and opportunity. While working towards eliminating intercity violence is a necessary step, there are many more that could serve as preventative and positive measures to serve the population as a whole.
