For Arab Israelis Facing Rampant Violence and Weak Government Response, Little Hope on the Horizon

Violence in Arab communities appears to be spiraling out of control, with 2023 the deadliest year to date

Over 150 Arab citizens of Israel have been killed violently since the beginning of the year, a record-breaking number for the troubled Arab Israeli community.

We are in the Wild West; the state is absent, there is no law and order and the criminals are not deterred

“I’m afraid the abyss is even deeper,” said Maisam Jaljuli, CEO of Tsofen, a nonprofit organization aimed at developing the high-tech sector in the Arab community. “We are in the Wild West; the state is absent, there is no law and order and the criminals are not deterred.”

The latest victims, killed on Tuesday, were Ghazi Sa’ab, Zohair al-Din Sa’ab, and Amir Sa’ab—three cousins from Abu Snan, a town in the Western Galilee about 9 miles south of the Lebanon border—and a fourth man, Salman Halabi, from the nearby town of Yarca. Ghazi Sa’ab had just announced his candidacy for the upcoming mayoral election in Abu Snan.

The night before, the director-general of the Tira municipality, Abed Rahman Kashua, was killed in a shooting incident that occurred adjacent to a local police station. According to emergency services, two other men were injured as a result of the shooting. Kashua was not the first municipal official to be killed in recent months, with family members of local politicians also part of the long list of victims.

“This murder was akin to laughing in the face of the police, right in front of the police station. The criminals are basically saying they disregard the law and showing they are the ones in control here,” Jaljuli told The Media Line.

According to the Abraham Initiatives, an Israeli nongovernmental organization that promotes Jewish-Arab coexistence and monitors the ongoing violence, there has been an increase of over 130% in the number of homicides in the Arab Israeli population, with more than twice as many victims than last year.

“This murder crosses a red line,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday in a video released by his office. “We will use all the means, including the secret service, the police, everything, in order to beat this crime.”

This was not the first time Netanyahu has promised to take action.

The number of cases solved by the police is minuscule, a testament to both the low priority given to them by police, but also due the lack of cooperation of the Arab population with law enforcement. The distrust between both sides and the tendency of the Arab population to solve matters in-house have a major role in this.

“It keeps on feeling like it’s getting closer, that no one is immune, it is not just criminals who are involved,” Jaljuli said. “I keep asking myself—when will it happen to me?”

Arab Israeli citizens make up about 20% of the Israeli population. They face widespread, often institutionalized discrimination. While they have the right to vote, their daily lives are considerably different from those of the Jewish majority.

Many Arab cities and villages are visibly dilapidated, with lagging infrastructure and run-down schools. Arab Israelis have a lower participation rate in the workforce and lower salaries than Jewish Israelis. Often discriminated against in the workforce, they get fewer opportunities and have lower salaries on average. They make up a significant portion of the Israeli medical field and academia, but they are largely kept out of other professions, often alienated from the political playing field and the media. Organized crime has become a major influence in the daily lives of Arab Israelis, a growing force that has been seeping into all areas of life.

All these factors, coupled with the current ultra-right-wing government, have proven to be a recipe for growing violence.

“This is a political issue,” said attorney Reda Jaber, an expert on Arab society, public law and crime amongst minorities. “We are not seen as citizens in this country. Legally, we are citizens, but this is void and meaningless in face of the fact that there is no treatment for any of our problems. The result is that any small issue becomes humongous.”

This is not a failure, this is the policy

While many have criticized the current government for failure to deal with the spiraling violence, Jaber offers a different perspective.

“This is not a failure, this is the policy,” he told The Media Line. “When the government wants to solve something, it mobilizes all its resources and capabilities to achieve it.”

The current government is Israel’s most right-wing to ever govern. Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, was elected after promising a tough stance against crime in the country. Branding all Arabs as terrorists, he has asked to enlist Israel’s secret service, the Shin Bet, in the fight against Arab crime and has loosened gun control, allowing more citizens to carry weapons. But since his entrance into office, violence has only been escalating at rates higher than in previous years.

“Ben-Gvir is a racist, he will not take care of our problems when he believes we are the problem,” Jaber said.

“The government has a completely different agenda that does not take into consideration the deep crisis the Arab society is in,” Member of Knesset Mansour Abbas told The Media Line. “We are not a priority, there is no policy, no leadership and no one taking responsibility.”

Abbas and his party, Ra’am, participated in the previous government, in what was an historic participation of an Arab party in a coalition. Plans and budgets that were put into motion have since been frozen, also contributing to the current deterioration.

Increasingly, Arabs feel abandoned by the Israeli establishment. The placement of Ben-Gvir in such a critical role has only increased the feeling of insecurity. A firebrand politician, he has a long history of anti-Arab rhetoric, including convictions of incitement to racism and support for a terrorist organization. He is also an attorney who has frequently represented Jews suspected of terrorism and hate crimes against Arabs.

In a letter to Netanyahu, Israeli Interior Minister Moshe Arbel demanded swift action. He voiced concern that the recent violence against political figures would influence upcoming local elections slated for this coming October.

“This assassination, together with other killings of municipal officials, are severe and daring,” Arbel wrote, also addressing the letter to the head of the Shin Bet.

According to Abbas, organized crime is trying to terrorize the local municipal authorities with the goal of taking them over.

“This is the time for the central government to act,” he said. “We need to see more boots on the ground, to give citizens the feeling of safety. These are the simplest, most basic steps that can be taken immediately.”

Police presence in Arab population centers is markedly lower than in Jewish areas.

In his letter, Arbel insisted that the Shin Bet become more involved in the investigations of the murders, and Netanyahu has already vowed to use their capabilities in the fight against crime. However, this highly contentious move has been met with criticism and concern. The Shin Bet oversees combatting terrorism and does not currently have a legal mandate to be used against citizens.

“The government cannot stand idly by,” Arbel wrote, demanding an urgent meeting with the premier and the secret service.

According to Jaljuli, the weeks ahead of the local elections will be especially tense.

“In previous years, this was always a tense period and now there is increased involvement of organized crime. It is an extremely dangerous period,” she said.

It is difficult to foresee how the violence and the disappointment of the citizens with the lack of treatment will affect voter turnout.

“Our problem has been doubled,” Jaber said. “If in the past, we had an expectation that problems would be treated, now we face a government that is openly hostile to us and does not see the issue as the states problem but rather an Arab problem.”

Israeli Channel 12 published a recording of a conversation between Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai and Ben-Gvir, in which Shabtai said it was “Arab mentality” that was behind the violence. “It’s their nature—they kill each other,” Shabtai was heard saying.

“The government has an obligation to its citizens, regardless of whether it cares about them or not,” Abbas maintained. “There is a lot of frustration amongst the Arab citizens who feel like the government does not take their right to a life with personal security seriously.”

“All Israeli citizens must live in safety and not under the threat of internal terrorism,” Netanyahu said in his video.

This frustration is only likely to increase. Both Abbas and Jaljuli are wary of the near future in which they believe citizens will take matters into their own hands and defend themselves.

“People want security and if the state won’t do it, they will find their own solutions,” said Abbas, who warned of increased violence in such a scenario.

Unless there is a drastic change, 2023 will become one of the deadliest years for Arab Israelis. At the current rate of deaths from violent crimes, it is possible to project that over 200 Arab citizens will have been killed by the end of 2023.