PM says Shin Bet to help police in fighting organized crime in Arab towns

A ministerial panel established to address rampant violent crime in Arab towns tasks the Shin Bet security service with assisting police operations “against criminal organizations in all related to the municipal elections,” says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office after the forum convenes.

The statement from the Prime Minister’s Office stresses the agency will act in accordance with its “mission and role under the law.”

The move comes as Netanyahu and far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir have called to involve the Shin Bet in the fight against crime, something not explicitly in the agency’s remit, though it is tasked under a 2002 law “with maintaining state security and maintaining the order of the democratic regime and its institutions against various threats.”