Ra’am chairman MK Mansour Abbas will demand in the Knesset plenum on Wednesday to form a parliamentary committee of investigation into the government’s treatment of the surging crime in the Israeli-Arab sector.
The request came after an especially violent few days that included murders of a man in Lod and a woman in the town of Jatt, as well as shootings in Haifa, Umm al-Fahm, and Jadeidi-Makr.
In a letter to Knesset Speaker MK Amir Ohana (Likud) on Monday in which Abbas requested to bring the proposal to the Knesset floor, the leader of Ra’am wrote, “In the past decade, the Arab society in Israel is coping with a worrisome rise in the levels of violence and crime. The phenomenon influences many parts of life, causes loss of life, harms personal safety and deepens the economic and social gaps. In this situation, there is an acute need for significant intervention.”
Parliamentary committees of investigation have limited statutory power, as the law gives the Knesset the authority to decide on the scope and means of its investigation, it does not have the power to subpoena individuals, and refusing to comply with the committee is not a crime.
The Labor party announced on Wednesday morning that it supported the demand. The party said in a statement, “The number of murder cases leaped disproportionally in the past year, as a result of a prime minister whose only interest is to remain in power, and a failing, incapable, and racist minister. The Arab citizens of Israel must know that the Israeli Knesset is acting to fix the ongoing government failure. Citizens of Israel, Jewish or Arab, deserve to live in safety,” the party said.
Crime statistics
Crime in general and homicides in particular began to rise steadily in the mid-2010s. Homicides peaked at 126 in 2021, but dipped to 116 in 2022 as a result of an inter-ministerial effort to combat it during the Lapid-Bennett government. However, in 2023, under National Security Minister MK Itamar Ben-Gvir, homicides skyrocketed to 244 – a rise of over 100%.
Read More: MK demands investigative committee into crime in the Arab sector – Israel News