Dr. Ahmad Tibi: The Israeli police are capable of confronting criminal organizations, as they did in Netanya, Nahariya, and Tel Aviv, but they do not do so in Arab towns.

Dr. Yousef Jabareen: Police collusion with criminal elements is in line with the racist and supremacist policies of Ben-Gvir, who openly expresses his hostility toward Arabs.

Sawsan Sarour: Over the years, trust in law enforcement has been shaken by the police's treatment of the Arab community as a hostile entity.

Amir Makhoul: What is happening is part of an Israeli strategic project whose ultimate goal is the "voluntary displacement" of Palestinians inside Israel.

Wadih Awawdeh: We are facing a catastrophic threat unprecedented since 1948, and I see it as the most dangerous strategic threat facing all Arabs at home.

Arab society in the 1948 territories is being subjected to a fierce, silent war, claiming the lives of many Arab citizens. The official Israeli establishment, with its various branches and ministries, especially the police, has not lifted a finger to put an end to this bloodshed, which has deprived them of peace and security and has begun to threaten the cohesion and existence of Arabs in their cities and villages.

Daily or near-daily killings have claimed the lives of dozens since the beginning of the year. Many of these attacks occurred in broad daylight, without warning, and without any clear motive. Young men, women, and girls are victims, with no common link between the victims, making them appear to be murders for the sake of murder. What's striking, however, is that the Israeli police are treating these crimes with a suspicious degree of indifference, as if they don't occur within their jurisdiction. Most of the crimes are recorded as unknown, even though they deal with them differently and with great effectiveness when crimes occur within the Jewish community.

Writers, analysts, human rights activists, and politicians who spoke to Al-Quds emphasized that the Israeli police are capable of confronting criminal organizations, as they did in Netanya, Nahariya, and Tel Aviv, but they fail to do so in Arab towns. They noted that the police's collusion with criminal elements aligns with the racist and supremacist policies of Ben-Gvir, who openly expresses his hostility toward Arabs.

They said that what is happening is part of an Israeli strategic project whose ultimate goal is the "voluntary displacement" of Palestinians inside Israel. They added: We are facing a catastrophic threat unprecedented since 1948, and it is the most serious strategic threat facing all Arabs inside Israel.

Unprecedented crime in Arab society inside the country

MK Dr. Ahmad Tibi, head of the Arab Movement for Change, said, "What has recently been happening in Arab society is unprecedented and dangerous, and poses a direct threat to the personal security of Palestinians inside Palestine."

He pointed out that criminal organizations have taken control of the situation, with the police indifferent, describing them as complicit and incompetent at best.

Tibi explained that 11 people were killed in just a few days, while the police commissioner declared that he was not counting the bodies, reflecting a disregard for the value of humanity and the pain and loss felt in Arab society.

He pointed out that weapons are widely available among criminal organizations, and that there are two types of crime: the first is organized crime led by gangs and mafias, which is the responsibility of the state and the police, not the head of a local authority, a member of Knesset, a cleric, or a teacher; the second is community violence resulting from disputes between neighbors, in playgrounds, or within families, which is a societal responsibility requiring everyone's intervention.

Excluding peace disclosure committees from the law

Tibi criticized the Israeli establishment's exclusion of peace-disclosure committees from the law, believing that National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's statements about his success in office implicitly imply that Arabs killing each other is a success in his view.

He emphasized that the Israeli police are capable of confronting criminal organizations, as they have done in cities such as Netanya, Nahariya, and Tel Aviv, but they do not do so in Arab towns, indicating that this is a government policy extending from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Ben-Gvir and the police leadership.

Al-Tayyibi stressed the need to re-educate young people and monitor their behavior, especially if they show signs of sudden wealth. He called for continued reform efforts and the prevention of bloodshed in the absence of a real police role.

The failure of government ministries responsible for addressing violence

For his part, human rights activist and former Joint List MK Dr. Yousef Jabareen said, "The escalation of violence and crime in our society did not come out of nowhere. Rather, it is primarily the result of the failure of responsible government ministries to address the issue and fulfill their role, both in terms of enforcing the rule of law and in terms of the budgets and resources that should be allocated to education, social services, and youth."

Jabareen believes that this dangerous escalation is primarily linked to police policies toward Arab citizens. The Israeli police view Arab citizens as part of the "enemy" based on their national affiliation. Therefore, the police are complicit in the policies of oppression and racism against our people and youth inside Israel. This police collusion with criminal elements is naturally in line with the racist and supremacist policies of current Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who openly promotes his agenda hostile to Arab citizens.

He added, "We accuse the police of being primarily responsible for the escalating crime in our towns. They are responsible for the proliferation of weapons, the failure to collect weapons, the failure to prosecute weapon users, and the failure to enforce the law when matters relate to the Arab criminal arena. We accuse the police of being concerned with the continuation of this crime in our society because crime preoccupies us and prevents us from devoting ourselves to the issues of discrimination and racism practiced by state institutions, as well as the issues of occupation and war."

Systematic public pressure on the police is required.

"We must intensify systematic popular and public pressure on the police and law enforcement authorities so that they can carry out their role in collecting weapons and combating violence and criminal elements in a decisive and deterrent manner," Jabareen said. "In every society, the tools for enforcing the law and deterring crime are in the hands of those authorized by law: the police and the responsible government ministries."

However, he pointed out that responsibility does not rest solely with the police. The Ministry of Education, for example, is failing to allocate educational and guidance programs and materials in Arabic to combat the phenomenon of violence and crime, and is failing to provide the necessary professional educational and guidance programs. The Ministry of Social Welfare, meanwhile, is failing to allocate social workers and financial resources to enable Arab local authorities to confront the phenomenon. This is in addition to the strangulation of our Arab towns in general, depriving them of urban and economic development.

He said: "Therefore, we are struggling to allocate urgently needed budgets to our local authorities to address the issues of youth in distress and poverty, and to establish the community and sports facilities that our towns lack."

Human rights activist Jabareen emphasized that given the escalating crime rate in our society, comparable to global standards in crime-ridden countries like Mexico and Colombia, internationalizing the issue of violence and crime has also become an urgent need.

He explained that it is ironic that the escalation of this crime to such a serious extent will allow us to present its dangers to international forums and pressure them to intervene with the Israeli government and pressure it to take action on the issue. He noted that these forums include the United Nations, the European Union, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Bank, and other influential institutions.

A racist scheme threatens Palestinian society inside the country.

He said that when an Arab citizen loses his basic right to security and safety due to the complicity of government authorities, and also loses his right to life, it is not an "internal issue," but rather a racist scheme that threatens Palestinian society within Israel, necessitating the international community's mobilization to confront and counter it.

At the internal societal level, Jabareen emphasized that we must take the initiative to launch a systematic public educational campaign that engages specifically with youth, and aims to promote a discourse of dialogue and mutual respect, and to reject the mentality of revenge and domination and replace it with a mentality of tolerance and community solidarity. In parallel, we must implement a public awareness campaign calling for not resorting to weapons or owning them.

Jabareen concluded his remarks to Al-Quds by saying: "Success in confronting violence and crime requires strengthening and reinforcing the alternative national unity project: the project of belonging to a single people suffering from discrimination and oppression, the project of national unity struggle to achieve rights and for a dignified and secure life."

11 victims killed in five days!

In turn, journalist Sawsan Surur, an observer and critic of the political scene in Israel, said, “Eleven people were killed in just five days, and seventy-six people were killed since the beginning of the year, a third of them in nine murders, in several towns, from the north through the center to the south. The victims are not only the dead, but also dozens of wounded, and tens of thousands who have lost their security and safety. We are not talking only about numbers, but about a political, social, economic and humanitarian reality related to the approximately two million Palestinians living inside the State of Israel.”

She added, "We are not talking about violence in the Palestinian Arab community in Israel, but rather the control of criminal gangs over parts of the State of Israel, without restraint or deterrence, and with them about half a million unlicensed weapons, most of which come from the Israeli army, according to various reports."

Sarour emphasized that the Israeli police force monitors various issues related to law enforcement and the criminal underworld in Jewish society, while the Shin Bet, which is supposed to focus on issues that pose a security threat with a nationalist background, is the one that monitors the affairs of Arab society. This means that the state views Arabs as a purely security problem.

Criminal gangs fill the void in their own way.

Sarour noted that with the absence of police and the decline of their role in Arab towns, criminal gangs have arrived to fill the void, but with their own criminal methods and conditions, circulated among the various and scattered gang leaders, and based on their size and influence at various levels, even within the institution.

She explained that over the past two decades, crime rates within the Palestinian Arab community in Israel have risen significantly and alarmingly.

Sarura noted that the crime rate in Arab society has always been higher than in Jewish society in Israel, but it is striking that this rate has increased rapidly over the past decade, from nearly doubling to tripling, then more than quadrupling from 2016 to the present day.

She said: If we go back to the beginning, the Or Commission - the official commission of inquiry that investigated the Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa uprising, the events of October 2000 in which thirteen young men from several towns were martyred - addressed in its 2004 report the causes of crime in Arab society, and showed, among other things, that the systematic discrimination practiced for decades in education, social welfare, employment and all other areas of civil life, and the creation of deep gaps between Arab and Jewish towns, is the path to the cycle of crime and violence.

Significant economic and material factors

Sarour added: "In fact, in addition to political and social factors, the phenomenon of violence and crime is also influenced by significant economic-material factors. The vast majority of Arab towns occupy the lowest rung of the socio-economic ladder, and 40% of Arab youth between the ages of 18 and 22 are neither employed nor educated (according to data from the Israel Democracy Institute). Forty-three percent of Arab youth between the ages of 18 and 24 live in poverty—twice the poverty rate among Jewish youth (according to a Ministry of Social Equality report, 2020)."

Surur revealed that many Arab towns suffer from poor development, high unemployment rates, weak educational and healthcare systems, and deteriorating physical infrastructure—all of which create fertile ground for the spread of crime and violence in Arab society.

She said: "The leadership of the Palestinian masses in Israel has used various means of protest against the state's failure to address the problem of the escalating crime in Arab towns, including marches, demonstrations, days of mourning, and even strikes. Some heads have even threatened to resign from their local authority positions, but all of this has been to no avail.

"Shin Bet collaborators" enjoy immunity

She noted that over the years, trust in law enforcement has been undermined by the police's treatment of the Arab community as a hostile entity, as if members of the Arab community were not citizens to be protected. This is a result of the police's failure to confront the phenomenon of violence and crime. Added to this is the lack of trust stemming from the cooperation of the General Security Service (Shin Bet) with criminal elements in the Arab community. A senior police official was previously quoted as claiming that "the source of serious crime in the Arab community is 'Shin Bet collaborators' who enjoy immunity, and therefore 'the police's hands are tied.'"

Surur described the country's general political landscape as extremely complex, particularly in light of the ongoing war on Gaza and the accompanying rifts and disintegration of the security, political, and social structures, as well as the deteriorating economic situation. This has placed addressing crime in Arab society on the margins, rather than at the top of the priorities of this far-right government.

She said: "Perhaps Government Resolution No. 549 of the change government (Lapid-Bennett), with the support of an Arab party, was a pioneering and innovative decision. It did not view crime in Arab society within the narrow context of law enforcement, but rather addressed it within its broader context of treatment and prevention. However, the current government froze it without benefiting from its positive transformations on the ground."

Journalist Surour concluded her statement to Al-Quds by saying: “The Palestinian masses have no choice but to struggle and not remain in the background. They must intensify demonstrations and protests against crime in Arab towns, and even resort to civil disobedience, if necessary, until they reach the ballot box. They must participate forcefully and effectively to change the face of the political map in the State of Israel and its priorities.”

Systematic destruction of all sense of security

Writer and politician Amir Makhoul stressed that there is a growing phenomenon sweeping across Palestinian society inside the country, threatening its very existence.

He explained that the issue is not just about the spread of gangs, murders, and shootings, but rather that what is happening is the work of organized gangs that possess what resemble armies, consisting of thousands of individuals, whether from within the Green Line (Palestinians of 1948) or from the West Bank, and they are the ones who carry out these acts.

Makhoul pointed out that the majority of weapons used in these crimes are of Israeli origin, including ammunition smuggled from military bases and sold on the Israeli market. He added that there is a systematic destruction of any sense of security within Palestinian society inside Israel, whether in cities or villages, even those once known for their tranquility.

He pointed out that what is taking place represents organized control, not just in the form of "thugs," but rather an integrated system that constitutes an economic project, with the crime generating billions of shekels through the collection of "protection money," controlling tenders from local authorities, businesses, and other activities.

People's willingness to emigrate and society disintegrates

Makhoul considered all of this to be part of an Israeli strategic project whose ultimate goal is the so-called "voluntary displacement" of Palestinians inside Israel. He emphasized that this policy is not limited to Gaza or the West Bank, but is practiced systematically against the Palestinians of 1948.

He pointed out that this displacement is already underway, particularly among young people, particularly those educated and specialized in fields such as medicine and technology.

He pointed to unfamiliar phenomena beginning to emerge, such as people's willingness to emigrate and the disintegration of society, including internal migration to major cities such as Haifa, Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Nazareth, and Nof HaGalil, which was established to Judaize the Galilee but has been transformed into mixed towns due to economic conditions and rampant crime.

He explained that every Palestinian inside Israel today feels threatened daily, complemented by a policy of repression and political persecution of all political forces. Police budgets are allocated under the banner of "fighting crime," while they are actually used to suppress those who oppose them.

What is happening goes beyond criminality to become a state project.

He cited the example of the "Peace Disclosure" committee, which was outlawed and banned weeks ago, despite its active role in the Higher Follow-Up Committee. Administrative detention orders were also issued against political leaders, including Raja Agbarbeh, head of the Sons of the Country Movement, who was placed under administrative detention.

Makhoul stressed that dozens are being subjected to political persecution, and that all these measures fall within a single framework: the elimination of the Palestinian entity within Israel.

He added that the goals of these policies include imposing a form of political engineering aimed at disengaging Palestinians from the interior from public issues, including political and national activism, and even abstaining from voting.

At the end of his statement to Al-Quds, Makhoul stressed that the Israeli right, led by Netanyahu, is systematically planning to drive Palestinians inside Israel into despair and hopelessness, as they constitute an electoral bloc that threatens his political survival. Although not a ruling bloc, they are capable of preventing him from forming any governing coalition. Accordingly, what is happening goes beyond the realm of criminality to become a state project.

Demolishing the castle from the inside after the failure of the subjugation

For his part, Israeli affairs expert Wadih Awawdeh pointed out the need to distinguish between violence and organized crime.

He said that criminal gangs, which began to emerge more than twenty years ago, are completely different from the violence that occurs between neighbors, families, or individuals, noting that organized crime is far more dangerous.

He explained that 70 to 80 percent of murders in recent years were carried out by organized criminal gangs, and the majority of victims are members of these same gangs. He indicated that there are approximately six or seven criminal gangs active in Arab society, spread throughout all regions.

Awawdeh based his findings on a study conducted at the University of Haifa, which indicated that the number of murders before 2000 was limited, similar to the situation in other Palestinian communities. However, the real explosion began after 2000.

He pointed out that many nationalist forces inside Israel accuse the Israeli authorities of deliberately allowing the crime to escalate after Palestinians inside Israel participated in the Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa uprising (the Second Intifada), with the aim of demolishing the fortress from within, after external pressures failed to subdue them.

He added that Palestinians inside Israel were, and still are, trying to preserve their national identity, their connection to their people, and their rejection of Israelization, and therefore the hands of crime and criminals were given a free hand.

90% of weapons come from the military

He pointed out that 90% of the weapons in the hands of individuals and gangs originate from the Israeli army and are smuggled from military bases, according to official Israeli reports.

He pointed out that 80 to 90 percent of murders in recent years have remained unsolved, with no deterrent or arrests, exacerbating the problem. He added that the number of solved crimes is very small, at a time when we are witnessing a dangerous escalation in the form of mass murders, in which several people are killed at once, as occurred in Yarka, Yafia an-Naseriyeh, and Nazareth itself more than once.

He spoke about a crime that occurred two years ago, when criminals disguised as police officers broke into a house and claimed to be from the Israeli police so they could carry out their crime.

He pointed out that such crimes rarely reach the Jewish community, as happened a few days ago in Afula, when a shootout broke out between two Arab criminals, who were arrested within an hour. This incident received widespread attention, while crimes in Arab society go unpunished.

Despair, frustration and weakness of popular action

Awawdeh spoke about a massive demonstration organized in Majd al-Krum in 2018, in which tens of thousands participated in protest against the crime. However, he noted that protests have declined in recent years due to despair, frustration, and a lack of popular action. Most people are now content to just accuse the government and the police, a justifiable accusation, without any systematic and effective protest action to expose and confront these policies, both locally and internationally.

He added that the Arab community made a grave mistake when it belittled the statements of Itamar Ben-Gvir and other far-right figures, who demonstrated clear hostility toward Arabs.

He concluded by saying: We are facing a catastrophic threat unprecedented since 1948. I see it as the most serious strategic threat facing all Arabs internally, threatening their gains, their status, and their political and collective action.

Awawdeh added: "I do not hesitate to say that there is a real phenomenon of migration among young Arabs inside the country, who are leaving the country in search of safety and emigrating to countries such as Greece, the UAE, Turkey, and others, in light of the blocked horizon and the predicament we are experiencing."