‘Situation is grave’: Israeli lawmakers to tackle Arab violence against Jews

“When there is no recognition of the state’s right to exist, there is no compliance and no governance,” said Smotrich. “The situation today is grave.”

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Just a week after a controversial Knesset conference discussing alleged settler violence against Arabs in Judea and Samaria, right-wing lawmakers announced on Wednesday that they would soon hold a conference to tackle the opposite issue.

“The Emergency Conference on Violence, Incitement, and [Gang] Extortion by Arabs Against Jews in the Negev, the Galilee, Jerusalem, and Mixed Cities,” organized by Religious Zionism chair Betzalel Smotrich and Likud MK Shlomo Karhi, will take place next Wednesday in the Knesset plenum.

Citing increasing tensions throughout Israel’s mixed Arab-Jewish municipalities and widespread Arab attacks against Jews during May 2021’s Operation Guardian of the Walls, Karhi and Smotrich said the government must examine real data about Arab-perpetrated antisemitic violence and devote resources to combating the phenomenon.

“The truth is difficult and painful, but it must be said. Some Arab Israelis take advantage of the weakness and helplessness of the Muslim Brotherhood government and rain terror on Israel’s Jewish residents,” Karhi said in a statement.

“This is a war of independence for sovereignty in this land, against a fifth column, with the support of some of those in this bad government. Just say ‘no’ to terror.”

“In recent months, Arab violence against Jews has begun to dangerously raise its head. The Israel Police and law enforcement authorities are tasked with [ensuring] citizens’ security and are not doing their jobs, and that has to stop,” said Smotrich.

“It cannot be that authorities continue to turn a blind eye and [give] various excuses. This is not a handful of rioters, this is not a case of neglect or discrimination – this is years of turning a blind eye to growing Islamization and nationalism in Arab society.”

“If we don’t face reality, we won’t be able to deal with it,” he added. “When there is no recognition of the state’s right to exist, there is no compliance and no governance…the situation is grave today, and it is only getting worse. If the state won’t take responsibility soon and act with a firm hand against lawbreakers, we will find ourselves with dangerous terrorist pockets inside the State of Israel, and that is a reality we cannot accept.”

AntisemitismArab IsraelisArab violenceBezalel SmotrichReligious Zionism