How can the Israeli-Arab murder wave be stopped? - analysis
| Author | YONAH JEREMY BOB |
| Published date | 26 September 2021 |
| Publication title | Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel) |
Besides the almost constant rhythm of news reports of newly murdered Arabs of all ages, recent months have also seen Arab criminal groups murdering a senior adviser to Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar and shooting at the house of a top Arab police commander handling the issue.
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Though some cases get solved, many never do, and even those that are solved appear to take longer to solve than cases in which Jewish Israelis are killed.
What are the roots of the problem, what can the police and the prosecution do to reduce the wave of murders, and is the situation so dire that the Shin Bet should get involved?
Historically, the state and the police have ignored or had a hands-off policy regarding intra-Arab crime that did not impact Jewish Israelis.
It can be interesting to debate whether this is because Israel's governments have not cared as much about the Arab sector, because they have been afraid of blowback from Arabs if the police were seen as being "too active" in their neighborhoods, or whether the story is a question of a lack of funding, resources and local police stations.
Yet, the bottom line is the issue has not received much attention other than when a spree of especially awful crimes breaks into the headlines.
There is some hope that the current government, which is the first to have an Arab party, Ra'am, may treat the issue more seriously.
In addition, other terrible headlines in recent years did finally lead the police to invest some more resources in dealing with the issue, especially in hiring more local Arab police and establishing some more physical police presences in Arab areas.
However, the negative trend of an increase in murders and of Arab criminal organizations feeling free to go after symbols of the rule of law seems to have overwhelmed these positive trends.
Former head of the police operations command Yaakov "Kobi" Cohen explained that the current weakness of the police in handling the issue is multifaceted.
First, he noted that the problem is a long-term one requiring long-term solutions addressing both the phenomenon and the underlying socioeconomic causes.
Next, he said, "The police have the capabilities to deal with the phenomenon. The question is, are they organized...
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