A Crisis Ignored: Government Complicity in Arab Sector Violence

2/25/26

By Rabab Abdel Ghani, ROPES Alum

The Arab sector has been witnessing a brutal situation for the last six years. The number of victims is rising gradually each year. Many Arab citizens in Israel from different villages and cities are being intimidated and killed by criminals who want money by force. It is called illegal protection or extortion. Those who agree to pay protection save their lives temporarily, but others who refuse to pay are shot in cold blood.

Many innocent people have lost their lives because they were close to the atrocious events. Other people have lost their own businesses because they chose to close them instead of paying each month. The government is standing by to no avail. It is enjoying the scene of Arab citizens being killed without even trying to take any action to stop this brutality. The government blames the Arab sector, claiming that the Arab citizens are not educated enough and that what is happening today is solely their responsibility.

Let’s assume that the government is right, God forbid; the questions that arise then are: What is your role as a higher institution in this country? Why do you not do anything to eliminate the violence? What are you waiting for? If this situation happened in the Jewish sector, I am sure the treatment would be different.

Unfortunately, many Arab villages and cities are no longer safe and secure for their people. The situation is getting worse as the days progress. The number of casualties and dead people is on the rise. In other words, the government has the intention to get rid of the Arab citizens without allocating any aid or help. Besides that, nothing can be more degenerate than when the Minister of Finance deprives the Arab sector of its allocated money, and it goes to the Jewish sector instead.

The picture looks like the following: the whole government, with all of its higher positions, is leaving the Arab people alone to kill each other. We all know that previously, the Jewish sector witnessed a similar problem with dangerous gangs, but the difference is that the government immediately intervened and caught these gangs, and since then, let’s say the situation is much better. This means that the country can put an end to all these criminals when it insists on stopping them.

I blame the government and put all the responsibility on it for intentionally ignoring the situation in the Arab sector and not trying to put an end to all these atrocities, because it is the one that has the power and authority, and if anything happens to its citizens, it is the one to be blamed and questioned.