BICOM

What happened: Six people were killed and two others seriously injured yesterday in three shooting incidents in northern Arab-Israeli villages.

• One shooting happened at a car wash in Yafa an-Naseriyye. The victims, identified as 29-year-old Naeem Marjiyeh and his cousin 15-year-old Rami Marjiyeh; 25-year-old Luai Ragheb, 27-year-old Ibraheem Shehadeh and 25-year-old Mohammed C’nanah are believed to be linked to a running feud between the Bakri and Hariri crime families that has so far claimed 26 lives.
• Another shooting incident occurred last night outside the Arab village of Kafr Qasem in central Israel during a car chase in which a 30-year-old man, Salim Omar Dahab was killed.
• In a separate incident Thursday, a 3-year-old girl and her 30-year-old father were shot and seriously injured in Kafr Kanna.
• National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir – who has been criticised for his approach towards violence in the Arab community – said that “There has been a wild west in the Arab community for the past few years,” adding that he was “working hard” to tackle the “root problems”. He once again pushed for the establishment of a national guard and further involvement of the Shin Bet.
• PM Netanyahu issued a video statement in which he said he was “horrified” by the killings adding that he was “determined to stop this cycle of murders. We do this not only with police reinforcements but with the help of the Shin Bet. I’m determined to bring in the Shin Bet as an aid to the Israel Police against these criminals and criminal organizations, these murders.”
• Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the premier should head a committee “to fight violence in Arab society… and not leave the handling of the matter to Ben Gvir, the worst and biggest failure of a minister the police has ever known.”
• Hadash-Taal leader Ayman Odeh said Arab community leaders “have for years been calling for getting the weapons off the streets and for cracking down on crime organisations” adding “We won’t accept this negligence. We will cause the whole country to strike until this stops.” The Leader of Raam Mansour Abbas, said “murder has become a routine” and that the Arab community was “in a catastrophe.”
• A general strike will be held today in Israel’s Arab community.

Context: Yesterday’s killings come in a week already previously marked by the murder of three Arab men in northern and central Israel.

• Ninety-eight Arabs citizens of Israel have been killed in inter-communal killings since the start of the year, a major leap from the 35 at this point in 2022. Last year 112 Arab citizens of Israel were killed, 60 percent of them under 30, and the majority killed by gunfire, as compared to 126 in 2021.

• In 2021, the Bennett-Lapid government launched “Operation Safe Route”, in a bid to increase trust in the police on the part of the Arab-Israeli community and stem the tide of crime. Increased arrests and weapons seizures were effected.
• From 2017-2022, some 800 Muslim officers were recruited by the Israeli Police, in a bid to increase its ability and capacity to tackle offences committed against and/or perpetrated by members of that community.
• This greater investment has borne some fruit: in 2022, some 80 murders were thwarted by the police (as of March, some 14 in 2023).
• With financial hardship and the resort to loan sharks a contextual factor in the damning crime rate, the Bennett-Lapid government – which included the Arab-Islamist Raam party – also approved Government Resolution 550, a 5-year, 30 Billion Shekel package of Arab development investment. The package was nearly double its predecessor.
• On Monday, MKs from the majority-Arab Hadash-Ta’al party met with Netanyahu to discuss the problem and demand urgent action to combat the smuggling of stolen Israeli military weapons into Arab communities.
• The head of a police unit tasked with fighting crime among Arab Israelis, Deputy Commissioner Natan Bozna, resigned on Tuesday.

Looking ahead: In the aftermath of these killings, the issue of including the Shin Bet in the fight against violence in the Arab community is likely to increase.

• A bill to involve the Shin Bet in dealing with the spree of murders in the Arab community was rejected in the Ministerial Committee for Legislation due to opposition from Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and from the Shin Bet. The main concern is that it might not even be legal to employ the tools it uses in the fight against Palestinian terror on civilians and that it could be harmful to do so.
• Following his meeting with Hadash-Ta’al, the Prime Minister’s office pledged the formation of a steering committee, to be headed by Netanyahu and “whose tasks will encompass any area the government deals with Arab society… “We need to put politics to the side, get rid of divisions and work together to eradicate the criminal scourge,” Netanyahu said.