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Arab-Israelis: 21% of the population involved in 57% of murder cases

Police statistics show extreme over-representation in many serious crime categories.

Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich gave a comprehensive report to members of Knesset on Sunday on the prevalence of serious crime in the Arab-Israeli community.

Yisrael Hayom revealed the following disturbing statistics from the report: Arab-Israelis are involved in 57% of all open murder cases, 55% of attempted murder, 59% of arson, 45% of robbery, and 26% of open drug cases. These numbers veer only a few percentage points (in both directions, depending on the crime) from the data available from 2016.

It should be noted that, as reported in the +972 blog, according to Israel Prisons Service, the proportion of Arab inmates among Israeli citizens in 2016 was also over twice their proportion in the general population — 43 percent – although these included residents of Judea, Samaria and Gaza as well.

When Gilad Erdan became Internal Security Minister, he received an NIS 2 billion budget, part of which was to go to upgrading law enforcement in the Arab sector. Seventeen new police stations in Arab and Bedouin areas were supposed to be established. So far, only two are in the process of being built – in Kafr Manda in the Lower Galilee and Jisr az-Zarqa, north of Caesarea. In other places, Arab authorities are refusing to allow the police to enter suitable buildings that already exist.

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Sunday, Erdan turned to the MKs of the Joint Arab List and accused them from the Knesset podium of being the ones responsible for the lack of cooperation that is delaying the much-needed boost in law and order. “Let’s tell the truth,” he said. “You are the ones who have to examine yourselves for the murder and lack of law enforcement in Arab society.”

Alsheich did have a few pieces of good news for the MKs, including the fact that almost double the number of Muslim Arabs were hired by the police in 2017 over 2016 — 130 this year, versus only 70 the year before.

By: Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News