Three obstacles are in Israel's way to deal with the violence in Arab society: an institutional denial of the motives behind the alarming incidents that also lead to diagnostic errors; a fixation by the legal system that fails to recognize the state of emergency that requires deviation from the path of the law and accepted civil rights conventions of a democratic state; and lack of security forces available to respond with a comprehensive campaign.
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With regard to the first obstacle, senior security and political officials prefer to avoid diagnosing the series of violent incidents as nationalist subversion and rather stick to the hypothesis that they are of criminal nature. For example, Police Chief Kobi Shabtai recently claimed in a Knesset debate that the riots that took place in mixed cities during the latest conflict with Hamas stemmed from inequality in the Arab sector. Such denial enables the police to evade its duty to respond to the matter.
Whoever denies that rioters took to the streets out of national motives only confirms how much harm this phenomenon has inflicted on the Arab sector itself. True, most of the murders occur as a result of internal conflicts. But after all the explanations regarding the unique plight of the sector and its cultural characteristics, we must ask the government why then, in Jordan, or even in the Gaza Strip, such cases of murder in the light of day are much less frequent?
Our sages have given the answer to this in the Ethics of the Fathers: "Pray for the integrity of the government for were it not for the fear of its authority, a man would swallow his neighbor alive."
The spread of violence in Arab society in Israel is a direct result of the state's loss of governance. The feeling of anarchy and anxiety in the Arab streets plays into the hands of groups that seek to undermine Israel's sovereignty. From this perspective, the violence in the Arab sector is an existential threat to the State of Israel.
With regard to the second obstacle, the judiciary is reluctant to recognize the severity of the matter and, therefore, declare a state of emergency, giving state authorities the power to act immediately and thoroughly, the alternative of which would be to lose sovereignty altogether.
It is a simple truth that was understood in the past until modern times gave birth to the concept of human rights. From here stems the sensitivity to send military units to the streets of Arab cities and villages.
We must also ask, why those who object to sending army units to disperse the crowds of violent protesters did not mind 30,000 soldiers and police officers against loyal civilians, residents of the Gush Katif?
It is an undisputed fact that in any democratic state, there is no sovereign struggle more legitimate than that against illegal arms trade by its citizens.
The first two obstacles create the third one – the basic deficit of security forces. By removing these obstacles, every person involved in dealing with the situation will understand that this is a state of emergency that requires extensive recruitment and a long-term thorough campaign.
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