Violence and Crime in Arab Society Must Drive a Political Turning Point
The crisis of violence and crime in Arab society is not only an ongoing failure of the state and may become one of the decisive factors in the upcoming election. For the first time in years, the question is not only how to fight crime, but whether it will become a central political issue, one that can drive Jewish-Arab partnership and lead to a change of government. For that to happen, broad political mobilization within the Arab public is required, alongside a clear commitment from the opposition to genuine governing partnership around one clear and urgent goal: saving lives.
The crisis of violence and crime in Arab society is neither a sectoral problem nor a marginal phenomenon. It is a persistent failure of the state toward roughly one-fifth of its citizens, a failure that takes a daily toll in human lives, tears apart entire communities, and undermines the sense of security of Israeli society as a whole. This is a crisis that cannot remain on the margins of the public agenda, and certainly not outside the political and electoral discourse.
As is well known, murder and violent crime rates in Arab society have reached unprecedented levels in recent years, while clearance rates remain shamefully low. This is not a matter of lack of knowledge or tools. A state that successfully deploys advanced intelligence, policing, and technological capabilities in almost every other arena displays, at best, helplessness, and at times a clear lack of will, when it comes to its Arab citizens. Violence is not the product of “culture,” as some politicians conveniently claim, but a direct result of decades of underdevelopment, neglect, and discrimination: poverty, institutional exclusion, distorted policing priorities, and a profound collapse of trust between the state and its Arab citizens.
This failure is not merely the result of incapacity — it is the outcome of policy. The current government, and particularly those ministers ostensibly responsible for improving the condition of Arab society, act in direct contradiction to their ministerial duties. The minister of national security, the finance minister, and the minister for social equality use the violence crisis as a pretext for further harm to Arab society: budget cuts, freezing of civilian programs, preference for forceful symbolic gestures, and the usage of collective punishment and abusive policing, under the title of “restoring governance.” Instead of addressing the root causes of crime, they harass Arab society and exploit the violence to advance a policy of weakening, delegitimization, and portraying the entire Arab public as a threat.
Paradoxically, it is precisely the minister of national security — with his aggressive and racist style and his colossal professional failure — who has intensified humiliation and anger on the Arab street, sharpening among many the understanding that they must do whatever they can in order to send Ben-Gvir back home.
This is exactly where the upcoming elections enter the picture. The fight against crime in Arab society can and must become a central issue in the election campaign — and a political lever for changing the government. But for that to happen, the opposition cannot continue to treat Arab citizens as a taken-for-granted reservoir of votes. Voter turnout in Arab society is a decisive factor in the chances for political change, yet Arab citizens will not turn out in large numbers merely to “defeat Netanyahu.” they need a positive, concrete, and binding political offer. They need hope.
Such hope would take the form of a serious plan to eradicate the threat of crime, backed by genuine political intent and presented by credible figures committed to implementing it. Without such a package, calls to participate in elections in order to “save democracy” ( a democracy that has often bypassed Arab citizens even in its supposed golden years) will remain unanswered.
The principled decision by the Arab parties to run together in the elections, announced on the day of the unprecedented mass demonstration in Sakhnin, is an important step that signals an understanding of the gravity of the moment in general, and of the acute need to eradicate the violence destroying Arab society in particular. Unity is a necessary condition — but not a sufficient one. What is now required is a parallel move by the non-Arab opposition parties: a public outstretch to the Joint Arab List, and a commitment to invite it into a governing partnership around a clear goal — combating crime and saving lives.