The Ethiopian community in Israel, primarily its youth, suffers from over-policing and discrimination according to a grave report published by State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman on Wednesday.
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Compared to the general population, the report said, Ethiopian Israelis are arrested and indicted at a disproportionate rate.
According to the report, police investigations into members of the community were carried out against minors at a rate 3.8 times higher than their relative share of the population (1.7%), and at a rate of 1.9 times among adults.
"The figures indicate over-policing toward this population," the comptroller report said, "and show particularly high irregularity in relation to minors from the Ethiopian community."
Meanwhile, trust in the police and satisfaction in their actions was at only 13% in the community, according to surveys conducted by the police, the report said.
The comptroller additionally noted that Israeli youths from the Ethiopian community receive fewer opportunities to exit cycles of crime and delinquency compared to their contemporaries in the wider population.
Another troubling issue raised in the report is that oftentimes youths from the Ethiopian community aren't even aware a police file was opened against them and that even if the probes are closed later and found to be groundless, they can severely harm their socioeconomic track by blocking them from being drafted into the IDF.
Moreover, the report said that many Ethiopian minors do not have sufficient education or support to know how to contend with investigations and that the IDF and Israel Police have done little to make sure these investigations are closed speedily.
"Consequently, teenagers with a criminal past who otherwise could have enlisted in the IDF, and thus bettered their chance of integrating into society, could fall between the cracks," the report said.
"Five years after the police program to strengthen the public faith among Ethiopians, the rate of enforcement against Ethiopians remains much higher than for the rest of the population," Englman said.
"Law enforcement officials must act to eliminate the phenomenon of racism, over-policing and profiling" of Ethiopians, he added.
With regards to the integration of members of the Ethiopian community, the report revealed that around 75% reported encountering racist remarks while at work, while 14 of 22 government ministries did not meet the government target for adequate representation of the community, which itself is only 1.7% of the workforce.
In response to the comptroller's report, the Israel Police said, "Officers are constantly working to protect and serve all Israeli citizens faithfully, and provide them with equal police services regardless of origin, religion or skin color."
The police also said that within the past week alone, it started a local initiative that "will be a national-professional authority to oversee the issue and to act to create additional mechanisms and processes" to improve relations between police and the Ethiopian sector.
In addition, the police said the new initiative was "a long-term strategic change that is aimed at improving the quality of police services for the different sectors, including the Ethiopian community."
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