Arab-Israeli city takes battle against violence into its own hands
Tired of rising violence and police helplessness, the municipality of Umm al-Fahm presents its own plan to combat crime and decrease social tensions.
The numbers are astounding. In 2021, 106 Arab Israeli citizens were murdered, compared to only 38 Jewish citizens. Arabs in Israel constitute 20% of the population, so the relative rate of murders in the Arab community in Israel is 15 times greater than in the Jewish community. Another very significant difference is the rate of solved murders. In the Jewish community the police succeed in solving 66% of murder cases compared to only 24% in the Arab community.
The plague of violence and murders in the Arab community stems from several factors, including poverty, the availability of weapons, a limited capacity for enforcement and policing, socio-economic gaps and unavailability of credit lines that has led to loans on the black market among criminal organizations.
The previous government prepared a directors’ report that examined the problem and suggested in-depth solutions. These were the basis for the current government’s decision to allocate 2.4 billion Israeli shekels ($760 million) for five years to a comprehensive plan to address the problem.
This budgeted plan is not only about more police officers and detectives, it includes legislative amendments that increase punishment for weapons possession and various violence offenses, as well as to allow the police to enter homes to conduct searches without a warrant in emergency situations, such as immediately following a murder, to increase its ability to gather evidence. Another important clause is the economic battle against criminal organizations by means of the tax authority, the capital market authority, and so on.
