10,000 Palestinian Arabs illegally enter Israel daily, says senior police official

Thousands of Palestinian Arabs illegally cross the Green Line into Israeli territory daily, warns Central District police commander. ‘The army isn’t doing anything to stop it.’

By World Israel News Staff

Israel is facing a massive wave of illegal crossings by Palestinian Authority residents, a senior Israeli police official said Wednesday, warning that the Israeli military is turning a blind eye to the problem.

Central District Police Commander Avi Biton spoke with Channel 13 Wednesday afternoon, in the wake of the deadly terrorist attack in Holon Tuesday, which left 84-year-old Shulamit Rachel Ovadia dead.

Ovadia was bludgeoned to death Tuesday by 28-year-old Musa Sarsour, an Arab worker from the town of Qalqilya, who used a metal pipe in what police say was a nationalistically-motivated attack.

Biton said 90% of serious crimes in his district are committed by Arabs, with a large portion of that attributed to residents of the Palestinian Authority.

“The Arab sector makes up only about 9% of the total population living in the district, but is responsible for about 90% of the serious crime.”

When the IDF increased border security in Judea and Samaria this April, cutting illegal border crossings, Biton said, property crimes in his district plummeted 40%.

Since then, however, border enforcement has lapsed, with thousands of Palestinian Arabs illegally crossing the Green Line every day.

“Ten thousands illegal residents enter every day through holes in the security fence.”

Aside from leading to an increase in crime, the lax border security also poses security risks, diminishing the ability of police to locate and capture terrorists who infiltrate into Israel.

“We need to remember that from the moment we get a warning regarding a terrorist who has crossed the fence, we have seven minutes to neutralize him in the Sharon hills.”