Gun violence soaring in Israel's Arab community, as government cuts funding
After boasting in his election campaign that his primary goal in the Knesset would be curbing violence and crime, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has already cut funding for such programs in the Arab community.
BAQA AL-GHARBIYYEH, Israel — The Israeli police force has published data on its campaign against violence in the Arab sector since January, revealing that it has seized, among other weapons, 351 illegally owned pistols during that period alone.
The report released last week identified some 1,800 people as the "main generators of crime within Israeli-Arab society.”
But two days before the report came out, Israel’s Kan broadcaster revealed that National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the far-right Jewish Power party, had decided to cancel the budget allotted to another anti-crime campaign. The “Stop the Bleeding” program, based on a 2021 government resolution, had been intended to combat violence and crime in the Arab sector on a civil society level. Ben-Gvir complained that the operator of the program — the Joint Distribution Committee — was a “left-wing organization.”
Ben-Gvir’s decision comes amid a palpable surge in violence and crime in the Arab community. Last week alone, two Arab citizens of Israel were shot dead. The first was a member of the Bedouin community in the south, and the second was a resident of the village of Rama in the north. Their deaths brought the total number of casualties due to violence in the Arab sector up to 36 since the start of the year.
