The manhunt for the six security prisoners who escaped the Gilboa Prison, which has so far delivered four of them back to jail, reflects three issues that represent the depth of the civilian conflict Arab Israelis currently experience.
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This conflict has been around for decades, but many Jewish Israelis are oblivious to it.
The first issue touches on the sympathy for the fugitives among Arab Israelis, and the ridicule expressed toward the Israel Prison Service, Israel Police and Shin Bet security service.
The IPS is already notorious in the eyes of most Arab Israelis, who see it as rotten to its core, and many social media users wondered how a country that can get its hand on the Iranian nuclear archives can't keep prisoners behind bars.
The second issue touches on participation in the manhunt for the fugitives, which eventually led to the capture of four of them so far.
Dozens of Arab Israeli policemen and scouts took part in the search, sparing no effort to assist in the manhunt and facilitated the eventual capture of four of the prisoners.
The "golden tip" received by the police on Friday saw the Palestinian public harshly criticize Arab Israelis – the same Arab Israelis that spends almost every day in Jenin, Nablus and Hebron and became "Israeli" in their eyes, but also remained Arab in the eyes of the Jewish majority in Israel.
The third issue touches on how law enforcement – and especially the police – actually handle crime in the Arab sector. One cannot help but compare the mishandling of the former to the massive efforts invested in the search for the six fugitives that, if anything, prove that when the police set their mind to it – they can absolutely get the job done.
Surging crime in the Arab sector is a burning issue. Over the last 20 years, rising crime has claimed 1,600 victims – 80 of them in 2021 so far – while the police fail time and again to get the situation under control, citing "lack of civilian cooperation in the fight on crime."
In the eyes of many in the Arab public, the canvass for the fugitives, especially by the police, revealed its neglect in dealing with crime in Arab society in a clear and decisive way. As far as Arab Israelis are concerned, if the police really wanted to track down criminals who do as they see fit in Arab localities – shoot, terrorize, murder, and extort – they could land them behind bars, if not within a day then within a week or a month.
This underscores the challenge the Israel Police face as a law enforcement organization tasked with public safety.
The police will now have to explain why they can catch fugitive security prisoners in under a week, but fail to get its hands on gun dealers, drug traffickers, and murderers. The police will also have to explain why they are trying to shift the responsibility back to Arab Israelis when quite clearly, where it has the will it finds the way.
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