Police accused of impeding Arab-led protest convoy against rampant violent crime
Former MKs demands PM fire Ben Gvir as demonstrators arrives in Jerusalem; Hadash politician argues with cops, says reason they are protesting is because officers ‘aren’t doing their job’
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A convoy of protesters demonstrating against the government’s perceived neglect of violent crime in Arab society traveled to Jerusalem Sunday, though organizers said that police tried to prevent participants from driving on their route.
“The police are trying to disperse the cars and are themselves creating horrible traffic — the goal is to impede the Arab public’s protest,” organizer Amjad Shbita said in the early afternoon.
Footage shared by organizers showed several Border Police officers in neon work vests after they appeared to have pulled over several cars to the side of the highway.
“We are protesting, not impeding,” said Yousef Jabarin, a former Hadash MK in the convoy, to officers on the road. He added that the reason they are demonstrating at all is because police “aren’t doing their job.”
In another clip, a Border Police officer was seen demanding one of the convoy participants disclose his ID number, and when asked to provide a reason, said it is because he is disrupting traffic. He then told the demonstrator to get in his car and drive away.
Police did not respond to a request for comment.
Border Police officer asks participant in Jerusalem-bound protest convoy against surging crime in Arab society for his ID, says he is obstructing traffic
Organizers say police are trying to prevent them from continuing on their route to the Prime Minister's Office pic.twitter.com/azRCwt3kg1
— charlie summers (@cbsu03) February 8, 2026
Despite the reported efforts by police, hundreds of cars reached the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem at around 4 p.m.
Next to the PMO building, the heads of two leading umbrella groups in Arab society delivered a message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding he act decisively against organized crime and fire National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
Holding a formal letter addressed to the premier, Jamal Zahalka, a former Balad lawmaker who now heads the influential Arab High Follow-Up Committee, said that the police’s inability to solve murder cases has led to a “complete absence of deterrence [against homicide]” and “deepens the sense of neglect” among Arab citizens.
He stood next to Mazen Ghanaim, the mayor of the northern city of Sakhnin, who cosigned the letter.
Large police forces were deployed outside the Prime Minister’s Office as Zahalka gave his statement, and officers barricaded the road with crowd control barriers and brought a water cannon, which was parked near the sidewalk.
“Today, we had a day of disruption on the roads. This expresses our situation: Our lives are disrupted completely,” Zahalka said. “Arab citizens are suffering from a total lack of security — shootings, murders every day… We want to put an end to this situation.”
“We say to Netanyahu, all of this is happening on your watch and it is in your power to change the situation. The State of Israel is obligated… to protect all of its citizens without distinction and to act with determination against organized crime,” he continued.
Zahalka and Ghanaim moved past the barriers and were followed by a gaggle of journalists as they requested from police to be allowed to enter the PMO and present Netanyahu with their letter, but they were denied entry.
Violent killings have run rampant in Arab cities and towns over the past decade, but the issue worsened considerably in 2023 — Ben Gvir’s first year in office — when the number of murders jumped to 244, doubling the previous year’s figure of 116. It dipped slightly in 2024 before reaching new heights last year. The previous record high, set in 2022, was 126 murders.
The proliferation of deadly crime has sparked protests in Arab cities and towns over the past few weeks, reaching a high point at the beginning of the month with a mass Arab-Jewish protest in Tel Aviv to demand the government rein in the violence. Some have blamed Ben Gvir, who oversees the police, for the worsening situation. Under his watch, deadly crime has reached unprecedented heights.
So far this year, Arab society has seen 39 deaths in violent circumstances, 11 of them since the start of February. The latest victim was a man shot dead Sunday in the city of Kafr Qara near Haifa.
The sharp rise in Arab society’s already soaring homicide rate has spurred the community to hold near-daily protests in recent weeks, including a recent massive rally in Tel Aviv a week ago, demanding police take action to curb the phenomenon.
The Times of Israel Community.