Joint List unimpressed by PM’s plan to halt violence in Arab communities

The Joint List says it is not getting excited over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s promise to set up a panel aimed at combating violence in Arab communities.

Thousands of people, including Joint List lawmakers, have held large protests in recent weeks against what they say is a lack of policing in their communities and government inaction, urging a wide-ranging national plan .

Netanyahu said Tuesday he was tasking the head of the Prime Minister’s Office with creating the body to push forward a national plan to halt the violence.

“We’re not starry-eyed over Netanyahu’s promises. The test will be in the implementation,” the party says in a statement.

The party criticizes the mechanism proposed by the prime minister, saying the process should involve political and municipal leaders of the Arab community and experts. “We won’t take diktats from on high,” it says.

It also says it should not take the appointment of a panel in order to deploy police to confiscate weapons and go after bad guys.

Earlier, Mansour Abbas, the head of the Joint List’s effort to combat violence, called the creation of the task force “one positive step among many that need to be taken.”