'Unprecedented' Arab Israeli murders set to break records in 2023

Five killings this week bring total for the year to 111

Israeli police examine the scene of a mass shooting in June that killed five Israeli Arabs. AP

A leading expert on crime in the Arab Israeli community has called on the government to stop bloodshed as murder rates are on course to reach record levels this year.

Dr Thabet Abu Rass of the Abraham Initiatives, an NGO that tracks crime in the Israeli Arab community, issued this warning after a teenager and four men were killed in separate incidents overnight on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Israeli police say both incidents were linked to crime, the main driver of the worrying trend, which has also been driven by domestic violence and family disputes.

Experts blame poverty, a lack of banking infrastructure and a recent trend of established criminals fleeing abroad, leaving power vacuums that exacerbate territorial disputes among second-tier crime leaders, for the rise in deadly crimes.

A police spokesman told The National that "all incidents of violence in the Arab Israeli community are at the top of our list of priorities".

"We’ve brought in the Israeli equivalent of the FBI, tactical teams and undercover teams to work across these communities," he added.

Nonetheless, the attacks this week bring the tally of violent deaths among Israeli Arabs to 111.

"These killings are unprecedented. It is bloodshed that can only be stopped by the government. We don’t care how they do it, but they must," Mr Abu Rass said.

He said the previous government had taken initial steps to resolve the issue, but added: "This one is doing nothing to protect us."

While murders in the community had been rising for a number of years, 2022 saw a 16 per cent drop under the previous government.

'Invisible' under current government

Some in the community blame the Israeli police for the rising rates this year, accusing the authorities of not caring about incidents that affect Arabs.

There are also concerns that police are underfunded.

"The police in Israel suffer from a huge problem of shortage of means, budget and personnel," Merav Lapidot, a former police commander, told The National .

Other critics blame the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the most right-wing in Israel’s history.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a deeply controversial politician with a history of anti-Arab racist remarks, is responsible for policing in Israel. In the past, he has called to deport “disloyal” Arabs and annex the occupied West Bank.

Mr Abu Rass said he believes his community is "invisible under the current government and particularly under National Security Minister Ben-Gvir".

At the beginning of June, Mr Ben-Gvir announced plans to tackle violent crime among Israeli Arabs, which included the appointment of a policy co-ordinator.

Announcing the plans, Mr Ben-Gvir said he intends “to allocate enormous resources for this purpose by bringing police officers to the area, raising police salaries and establishing the National Guard”.

However, his flagship policy of establishing a national guard has been met by fierce criticism from some within Israeli policing and security circles, who say the project would divert already stretched funds that should go to police and is tantamount to providing the minister with a personal “militia”.

Also at the beginning of June, Israeli Arabs started a general strike over a lack of police action on the matter, after five people were killed in a mass shooting.

Soon after, Mr Netanyahu said he would enlist the help of the Shin Bet, Israel's internal security agency, to stop the crime wave.

There are also fears that Israeli police find themselves in the midst of a political storm.

Ms Lapidot recalled that Kobi Shabtai, the current police commissioner, has worked under "three governments and three ministers of national security, which is not normal in any kind of democracy".

"Many still in the police say that until Ben-Gvir came along and interfered in police work, there were real successes in reducing Arab murders," she added

"On the other hand, the increase is so rapid that you can’t just blame everything on the minister. The truth lies somewhere in between."