Omar Abu Salok, 15, of Lod, is dead, and another young man is in critical condition after a disturbing drive-by shooting on Israel’s Route 6. It was yet another episode in the endless cycle of crime and violence eating away at the country’s Arab population. This time, the incident took place in broad daylight, under the watchful eye of the law. The target was a convoy of vehicles carrying the Abu Salok family from its home in Lod to the town of Kafr Kassem. Everyone knew that they were fleeing for their lives, so three police cars accompanied them, ostensibly to provide a modicum of protection. It was not enough. As they drove along the highway, another vehicle sped up, pressed itself against the column of cars and opened fire.

The shooting occurred just a few hours after the media reported that the bullet-riddled body of Salman Azbarga, a man in his mid-50s, had been found in his car in the Lod industrial zone. The longstanding vendetta between the city’s Abu Salok and Azbarga families escalated quickly. Within just a few hours, riots broke out in the city.

There can be no doubt that the feud between the two warring families had reached a dangerous new level. But what are the implications of this hit occurring while the targets were supposedly under police protection? What does it say about the police? It seems to imply that they are no longer able to act as a deterrent when dealing with the Arab public’s crime families.

According to Aman: The Arab Center Combating Violence, 2020 was the bloodiest year in the history of Israel’s Arab society. As of Dec. 30, 95 men and 17 women had been murdered, 16 of them in December alone. The center’s director, Attorney Reda Jaber, told Al-Monitor, “Violence and crime are universal phenomena. Every society deals with them at some level or another. Nevertheless, among Israel’s Arab public, the phenomenon has several distinct characteristics: There has been a dramatic increase in the number of victims and an expansion of criminal activity in Arab society, coupled with inaction by state authorities that seem to be standing there, twiddling their thumbs, as they watch it all unfold. What is happening now is more than just the government’s failure to address a specific problem. It is the direct consequence of the state’s attitude toward the Arab citizens as a distinct group and their marginalization in the country. Official government policy has validated the sector’s second-class status in all matters pertaining to education, welfare, employment and, first and foremost, personal safety. The absence of adequate law enforcement authorities and policies to address poverty and at-risk youth has resulted in favorable conditions for a criminal element to assert itself gradually over the rest of the Arab population.”