A 23-year-old Arab-Israeli man was killed this morning in Nazareth, northern Israel, and two others were wounded in a shooting, bringing the number of victims of violence within the country's Arab community to a record 115. murders so far this year.
The murdered man was identified as Saher Arar and the police are considering a criminal motive as the cause, probably due to a dispute between organizations linked to Arab mafias.
So far this year, 115 Arabs have died in violent circumstances in Israel - in murders within their community -, exceeding the number that was recorded at this time of the year in 2023, which closed as the most violent year in history for the Arab sector of Israel with 244 murders, according to the count of the Abraham Initiatives organization.
In the last week, there have been eight deaths caused by violent crimes in the Arab community.
According to the Abraham Initiatives, which advocates for the integration of Arabs into Israeli society, around 88% of murders in the Arab community emanate from organized crime and war between mafias and family clans, while the rest are attributed to feuds. of blood or femicides involving family members.
Israeli authorities have failed to stop the bloodshed despite promising more resources, including more police and funds to address social problems within the Arab sector that underpin the crime wave.
Many community leaders blame the police, who have failed to crack down on powerful criminal organizations and largely ignore the violence; but they point to decades of neglect, abandonment and discrimination by government offices as the root cause of the problem.
In June 2023, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed an inter-ministerial committee to fight violence in the Arab sector, but tangible results have yet to be seen, and many see the well-known extremist Itamar Ben Gvir as a major impediment. for his anti-Arab rhetoric, is in charge of the Ministry of National Security, which controls the police.
More than half of Israeli Arabs live below the poverty line and their cities and towns often have poor infrastructure and public services, with no Arab locality achieving a score higher than 5 (1 to 10) in the economic ranking. what the government of the country's municipalities does.
Authorities have blamed growing organized crime and the proliferation of weapons, while some have pointed to communities' lack of cooperation with law enforcement to root out criminals. EFE