Herzog: Violent crime in Arab society a ‘national challenge,’ with inequality to blame

After three Arab citizens were killed within hours last night, President Isaac Herzog calls the rampant violent crime rocking Arab society a “national challenge” and blames the issue on inequality.

“The issue of crime, delinquency and the loss of personal security in Arab society in Israel is a national challenge in every sense,” he says, speaking at a conference focused on shared society at the Givat Haviva center.

He says the issue should be “occupying the thoughts” of Israel’s politicians day-to-day as a top priority.

“The responsibility [for the issue] of the communities and Arab society itself of course has its place, but there is no replacement for the responsibility of the state,” he continues.

He adds that the two-year war with Hamas in Gaza was “especially fruitful for agents of hate, despair and chaos.”

“Arab citizens of Israel are the flesh and blood of Israeli society,” he says. “They obviously deserve, by right and not by kindness, equality in the full sense of the word.”

Herzog says that the absence of equality in Israel not only drives the burgeoning violence in Arab society, but also is to blame for a “missed opportunity on a historic scale.”

“Arab society is perhaps the resource with the greatest potential, but on the other hand is the most unfulfilled, of the State of Israel,” he says.