Police launch major operation to combat youth violence after deadly stabbings

Police announced Tuesday the launch of a nationwide operation to combat juvenile delinquency and violence by youth gangs, in the wake of a series of lethal stabbings involving minors last week that shocked the public.

Police chief Danny Levy announced the operation following a situation assessment.

Increased police forces will begin operating in recreational areas and other public places, particularly in the Tel Aviv District. Law enforcement will also take proactive steps against gangs and other instigators, police said.

The increased presence will be both overt and covert, the force noted.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who oversees police, said in his own statement that the operation will focus specifically on south Tel Aviv and Petah Tikva, the latter being the site of a lethal stabbing last week on Independence Day.

“The sight of teenagers engaging in murderous violence is unbearable, we will not accept it, and we will root it out,” he said. “My policy is clear: zero tolerance for those who disrupt public order, undermine governance and harm civilians. This will be an all-out war.”

Hundreds of officers in the National Guard, a controversial policing force spearheaded by Ben Gvir, will reinforce local police in the operation, primarily in Tel Aviv. The initiative will be coordinated with police detectives in the Investigations and Intelligence Division.

The National Guard has been active across the country for over a year, but it remains unclear who it answers to or what its mandate is, according to a February report by the Knesset’s Research and Information Center, which found itself stonewalled by the National Security Ministry when it tried to find out.

Ben Gvir has long been criticized over rising crime rates since he became the minister in charge of policing.

The moves come after 19-year-old Destao Tzakul was stabbed to death as he left his home Friday night, and 21-year-old Pizza Hut worker Yemanu Binyamin Zelka was fatally stabbed days earlier, on Israel’s Independence Day, after asking a gang of youths to stop spraying party foam in the restaurant.

Four suspects, all minors, have been arrested in the Tzakul case.

Nine minors, aged 12-17, have been arrested in connection with Zelka’s killing. The main suspect in the killing of Zelka was arrested on Saturday.

A police representative told the Ynet outlet on Tuesday that the suspect is refusing to cooperate with investigators.

The teen was reportedly arrested in an apartment where he was hiding in central Israel.

Superintendent Dor Amitai dismissed claims that the central suspect is from a crime family or linked to one, but noted that two suspects who were with him “are tied to families known to police.”

However, he admitted there were indications of obstruction, saying the mother of the main suspect was questioned on that matter, and the father had been detained.

Meanwhile, Pizza Hut, where Zelka worked and was killed, said that it would continue to pay the slain young man’s salary.

Zelka, who used his salary from the fast food chain to help support his family, was stabbed to death by a group of adolescents after he told them not to spray party foam in the restaurant.

After waiting outside for Zelka to finish his shift, the youths ambushed and beat him. One of the assailants stabbed the young man, causing him to bleed out on the ground while the group fled.

In addition to paying Zelka’s salary, the restaurant chain has also established a financial aid fund for his family members and have been providing them food and drink as they sit shiva, the seven-day mourning period in Jewish tradition, Channel 12 reported.

The deadly stabbing came as a shock to many Israelis and spurred police to ramp up its efforts against juvenile delinquency, particularly in Tel Aviv and its environs.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to take action against youth crime at both the law enforcement and educational levels.

“The law must be fully applied to the murderers,” Netanyahu said referring to the Petah Tikva homicide, adding that “it must be instilled in classrooms and in homes, by teachers and parents, that this is a criminal act that must be denounced.”