Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gabir at the exchange ceremony with the outgoing Minister of Internal Security Amr Bar Lev, January 1, 2023 (Photo: Flash 90, Olivier Fitosi)
The most difficult problem of Arab society today is life without personal security.
The coalition agreement between the Likud and the Otzma Yehudit party on the establishment of a special unit in the Shin Bet to deal with crime in Arab society and the criminal organizations and crime families, not only will not increase personal security, it is also a dangerous and far-fetched agreement for a simple reason: in order to suppress crime, the cooperation of the population is necessary.
Instead To make amends and build a relationship of trust with the Arab citizens of Israel, the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gabir, demands that the General Security Service, which until now has only been involved in dealing with security issues, also deal with the affairs of the Palestinian citizens of Israel. This is a dangerous demand, which will turn the country into a democracy that uses the services of Its security against civilians. Those who want to fight crime must be careful about human and citizen rights, and the last body capable of this is the Shin Bet.
The Palestinian citizens of Israel who were held by the young Israel under a military regime experienced our security forces mainly as an enemy force.
The Shin Bet was the one that in the 1950s infiltrated agents into Arab society in order to disintegrate it, and Land Day marks the massacre of Arab citizens, and the events of 2000 are still an open wound. The Or Committee noted a series of failures, including the police's culture of lies and cover-ups, but not a single officer Police were not dismissed and no one was prosecuted or paid a price for killing 13 civilians.
The fight against crime in the Arab sector will not be simple.
In 2022, according to the data of the "Abraham Initiatives" association, 116 Arabs were murdered in circumstances related to violence and crime.
70 victims were under the age of 30 and 13 of them were women.
In a large number of cases, the police fail to solve the murder cases, and instead of caring for the safety of the Arab public, they act as a security body against them.
And nothing happens.
Arab society is flooded with weapons, which led to the large number of murders, the latest of which shocked an entire country.
Apparently, against the background of a conflict between criminals, a father and his two-year-old son from Nazareth were murdered while they were in their car, at noon today, and in revenge for that, a 23-year-old man from Haifa was murdered the next day.
There is no disputing that the criminal organizations must be eradicated.
But if at the same time we dismantle Arab society, we have lost.
This fight should be the police's, while creating a relationship of trust and hand in hand with the Arab public.
That is why Arab district commanders should be appointed, while massively recruiting Arab police officers;
and bring about a complete change of attitude of the police, and its transformation into a community-oriented police.
The police need smart, bold, patient investigators.
The police need field personnel who know how to speak at eye level with victims of extortion and threats, and who are able to protect them.
In short, we need a new police force.
Our big trouble is that the responsibility for the police and internal security was given to Itamar Ben Gabir, who is known for his racist views towards the Arab public.
And now he wants to use against them the methods he "imports" from the activities of the Shin Bet in the territories. This step could lead to further escalation and violence, and fatal damage to Arab society.
The author is the chairman of Meretz and a former member of the Knesset
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