Public defender cites spike in crime amid war, overcrowded prisons

Israel has over the past year seen a spike in crime as a result of the war in Gaza, the Public Defender’s Office says in an annual report, which also expresses concern about overcrowded prisons, increased police violence and an expansion of police powers.

“The Public Defender’s Office noted an increase in cases of poverty, domestic violence, crimes committed amid trauma and post-trauma, and [criminal] involvement of truant youth,” reads a statement from the office, adding that “normative people” have been driven to commit crimes for the first time amid the war.

It says that the incidents have “become more acute following the consequences of the… war, especially in the south and north regions, where tens of thousands were evacuated from their homes and workplaces.”

Among the public defender’s clients over the past year is a young man who lost many friends in the Re’im-area Nova music festival. The young man, who was arrested on suspicion of breaking and entering, was sent by the court to a rehabilitative community, the Public Defender’s Office says.

Meanwhile, the Public Defender’s Office points to a “worrying upward trend in the number of complaints about police violence,” with 316 complaints in 2024 — up from 265 in 2023, 161 in 2022 and 119 in 2021.

In addition, due to the war, there over 23,500 people in Israeli prisons, despite there being room for only 14,500 prisoners according to statute, the office says, adding that the overcrowding has negative effects on inmates’ health.

Chief Public Defender Anat Meyassed Cnaan says in a statement that the past year has seen a “marked expansion in powers granted to law enforcement.”

“We’ve especially warned about the leak of extreme tools [used by police], originally meant to combat terrorism, into criminal procedure,” she says.