Man killed in car explosion near Ramle school, motive believed criminal feud
Paramedics declare victim dead at scene; mayor calls on police minister Ben Gvir to do more, involve Shin Bet in combating spiraling crime
A man was killed when a vehicle exploded in the central city of Ramle Thursday, Israel Police said in a statement.
The motive behind the apparent bombing was believed to be a criminal feud, the Kan public broadcaster reported.
The car exploded close to a school and kindergartens on Yehezkel Street in the mixed Jewish-Arab city. Reports said the victim was a member of an Arab family known to the police.
The Ynet outlet reported that he was a member of the Abu Ganem crime family.
Magen David Adom emergency services said its medics declared the man dead at the scene and treated three others for light injuries.
Commander of the Ramle police station Chief Superintendent Aviad Katfi said in a statement “as far as I am concerned, an event like this is like a terror attack. Anyone who sets off an explosive device near a school should be treated like a terrorist and the incident should be treated likewise.”
Ramle Mayor Michael Vidal called on National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to “drop everything and come here. We want security,” Ynet reported.
The mayor urged that the Shin Bet security service be brought in to help combat violent crime.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ben Gvir have in the past called to involve the Shin Bet in the fight against violent organized crime, which is not explicitly in the agency’s remit. Judicial officials have indicated using such tools against citizens would create serious legal difficulties.
On Friday 20-year-old woman was shot dead in a Ramle parking lot amid an ongoing crime wave plaguing the Arab community.
Paramedics who arrived on the scene found the woman critically wounded, the Magen David Adom ambulance service says in a statement, adding they treated her and took her to the hospital. Doctors at Asaf Rofe Medical Center declared her dead shortly after arriving.
The Abraham Initiatives crime watchdog said she was the eighth Arab Israeli woman to be murdered this year, and the 153rd Arab Israeli overall to have been killed since the beginning of 2024, a figure that excluded Thursday’s death.
The Initiatives, which has worked extensively on relations between the Israel Police and Arab Israelis, has blamed the sharp uptick in Arab Israeli homicides in 2023 and 2024 on far-right Ben Gvir, who has been convicted of incitement to racism and supporting a terror organization over anti-Arab placards, and whose ministry is responsible for policing.
Many Arab Israeli community leaders say police have failed to crack down on powerful criminal organizations and largely ignore the violence, which includes family feuds, mafia turf wars and violence against women.
The communities have also suffered from years of neglect by state authorities.
