A six-month review of the Israel Police's effort to curb the violence in the Arab sector has found that the use of illegal firearms by Arab Israelis was up 33% since the onset of 2022.
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The scourge of organized crime and gun violence has been running rampant in the Arab Israeli sector in recent years, claiming dozens of lives. Raging crime claimed the lives of 126 Arab Israelis in 2021, and the death toll in the first six months of 2022 stands on 46 – 17 of them in June alone.
The police have been focusing much of their efforts on rounding up illegal firearms in the Arab sector. According to data obtained by Israel Hayom, 60,835 illegal weapons were seized by the police between January and June 2020, compared to 40,175 weapons in the corresponding period in 2021.
A breakdown of the data shows that as part of Operation Safe Route – the codename given to the efforts to tackle crime and violence in Arab society – officers confiscated 776 guns, 266 rifles, 139 explosive devices, and 176 grenades.
A particular concern was the number of military-grade weapons collected, which included 104 submachine guns, 15,123 rifle cases, 266 M16 rifles and 833 pistols – stolen from IDF bases, security companies, and defense and law enforcement personnel – and 400 standard weapons seized at border crossings.
A police source said that the pressure the police are exerting on criminal elements in the Arab sector has prompted a spike in gun prices. A smuggled or standard Glock pistol is currently priced at about 45,000 shekels ($13,000), long-range weapons sell for NIS 100,000-NIS 120,000 ($28,000-$34,000), and the price of locally produced weapons ranges from NIS 8,000 to NIS 25,000 ($2,300-$7,200).
"The sheer volume in general and especially of military-grade weapons is shocking," a senior Israel Police officer said, adding that high crime rates mean "most people in the Arab population want to have weapons for protection."
Police data further shows that while Arab Israelis make up 20% of the country's population, they make up the majority of criminal elements with respect to gun crimes.
"To understand how deeply Arabs are involved in crime in Israel, you need to look at two basic things," the officer explained: "92% of the suspects arrested since the beginning of 2022 in police activity against arms offenders and weapons dealers are Arabs – 3,561 out of 3,871 suspects, and 88% of the defendants in such cases are Arabs. This means 926 out of 1,153 defendants."
Many in the Arab Israeli community blame the police for failing to prevent crime rates from soaring – criticism that senior police officers rebuff. "We have a long way to go. You can't wipe out years of criminal activity in one fell swoop," one official said.
"Keep in mind that we're also dealing with a younger generation that doesn't recognize [Israeli] governance or traditional customs but rather is motivated by money and the desire for luxury. Arms dealing and crime are tempting for [Arab] youth. Results have to be reviewed over time, so it's important that we keep this operation going for as long as it takes," he concluded.
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