From the Liveblog of
Sunday, June 30, 2024
Far-right allies Smotrich and Ben Gvir spar over failure to curb Arab crime
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calls on Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to refrain from personal attacks after claims that he has failed to curb Arab violence.
Addressing a conference co-sponsored by the national-religious Makor Rishon newspaper, Smotrich claimed that Iran is attempting to destabilize Israel by pouring in “hundreds of thousands of illegal weapons” into the Arab sector and “we are far from doing what is necessary to neutralize this risk ahead of time.”
“In this matter, the police and the one who is trusted with this have completely failed,” he asserted, arguing that the issue “is not solved by weapons for the security squads” overseen by the government, he says pointing to Ben Gvir’s signature policy move.
Civilian security squads are comprised of volunteers and typically provide enhanced security to small towns and communities in Israel’s periphery and the West Bank settlements, where the police have a lighter presence. Israel established hundreds of additional civilian security squads in the weeks following October 7.
“When all of our children are united at the front, we must be united and not be dragged into personal attacks,” Ben Gvir responds in a statement. “The left are rubbing their hands together in glee because of the finance minister’s words.”
“Despite the attacks from the left and, unfortunately, also from our partners, we will continue with the project of the security squads” and the distribution of weapons to civilians, he says.
Crime in the Arab sector has skyrocketed in recent years, with more Arabs murdered in 2023 than in any previous year, according to a report by the Abraham Initiatives, a coexistence organization that tracks crime statistics.
Last September, State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman decried as inadequate the government’s response to surging criminal violence in Arab Israeli towns, calling the increase in criminal activity in Arab communities “a resounding failure of Israeli governments.”
