Meeting bereaved families, Herzog says deadly crime in Arab society ‘horrific and terrible’

President Isaac Herzog meets in Jerusalem with relatives of Arab homicide victims, as bereaved families escalate their demand that law enforcement curb violent crime.

Herzog calls the near-daily lethal shootings that have been rocking Arab society a “horrific and terrible” phenomenon that must be “torn out by the roots.”

He says there has been a “very large awakening” over the issue of violent crime in Arab society, which has claimed 48 lives since the start of the year.

The president takes the opportunity to urge the Knesset to pass a law that would grant police powerful surveillance tools to “put these criminals on trial,” insisting that the main hurdle for law enforcement is gathering evidence.

The families — affiliated with the Jewish-Arab Standing Together movement — insist that police are neglecting the issue and already have the necessary tools to fight violent crime, but aren’t using them.

Sitting next to the president, Qasem Awad, whose son Abdallah was shot to death last year while at work, laments that Arab citizens are “in the backyard, the police and the current government threw us into the backyard.”

Sawsan Sultan, whose sister Susan Abdelqader Bishara was killed in Tira last year, reads out a list of demands before the president on behalf of the group.

The first demand is the sacking of far-right National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, whose tenure has seen a sharp rise in Arab sector homicides.

The families also call for a consistent police presence in Arab towns, with officers trained to ensure Arab citizens’ safety, as well as regular communication between law enforcement and local officials.

At the same time, the relatives demand an end to highly militarized police raids, which see special forces enter and sometimes cordon off entire towns for a period of time, and then leave the area again without any law enforcement activities.