Five killed in Northern Israel massacre, deadliest in years

“What happens in the Negev doesn’t stay in the Negev,” NGO Regavim said, referring to the rampant Bedouin crime in the south.

By World Israel News Staff

In one of the bloodiest criminal incidents in Israel in recent years, five people were killed in the Arab town of Yafia, near Nazareth, on Thursday afternoon.

The same day, just hours earlier, a three-year-old girl and 30-year-old man were seriously wounded in a shooting in the Arab town of Kfar Kana in the Galilee. The child is in serious condition and the adult in critical.

“I was shocked by the terrible murder near Nazareth. We are determined to stop this chain of murders,” Prime Minister Benjamin said in a statement to media.

“We will do so not only by reinforcing the police but also with the aid of the ISA [Shin Bet – Israel Security Agency]. I am determined to bring in the ISA to assist the Israel Police against these criminals and the crime organizations, and these murders.

“Earlier this week, I held a series of meetings on this issue with security, legal and police officials and I intend to continue next week, and to achieve rapid results,” he said.

The idea to use Israel’s internal security agency with all its intelligence and surveillance methods that are applied to prevent terrorist attacks in order to fight the upsurge in crime in the Arab sector was first raised in 2021 by the Bennett government. Then-Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit ruled against it.

“As for the matter of the Shin Bet’s involvement in handling [Arab crime], it must be made clear that the handling of crime is not within its purpose and role according to the Israel Security Agency Law, even when it concerns the matter of serious crime in the Arab community,” Mandelblit stated at the time.

The government has vowed to solve the issue of rampant crime in Arab-Israeli communities, but so far, it has only been getting worse.

On Wednesday night, a woman in the mixed Arab-Jewish city of Lod narrowly escaped a bullet that flew through her window and landed just inches away from her bed. Police acted only after National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir told a station commander at 2 a.m. that he would come to the city himself if quiet is not restored, after fielding several panicked messages from Jewish residents who had been hearing gunfire near their homes for an hour.

“If the Shin Bet law to deal with Arab crime is not passed immediately, I will call for the toppling of the government,” Lod Mayor Yair Revivo said following that incident.

“Another horrific shooting took place today at a town near Nazareth; five people were murdered. Crime in the Arab sector continues throughout the country, highlighting how lawlessness and the loss of governance have terrible consequences for all Israelis,” NGO Regavim stated after the deadly Yafia shooting.

“What happens in the Negev doesn’t stay in the Negev,” the organization said, referring to the rampant Bedouin crime in the south.

Superintendent Natan Bozna, the police officer in charge of Arab sector crime, tendered his resignation Tuesday amid the upsurge in Arab-on-Arab violence that has swept the country.

Arab crimeArab IsraelisArab violenceAvichai MandelblitBenjamin NetanyahuItamar Ben-GvirRegavimShin Bet