Netanyahu: Shin Bet should help fight spiralling Arab-Israeli crime ‘immediately’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he insist on bringing the Shin Bet intelligence agency “immediately” in to the fight against spiralling crime among Arab-Israelis. 

With over 100 Arab-Israelis killed in 2023, the crime rate is at an all time high, causing great concern in Arab communities. Netanyahu’s government has been widely criticised for failing to give police the necessary resources to fight organised crime.

Speaking at Sundas’s cabinet meeting, Netanyahu called the rising crime a “blight on the country.”

“A considerable part of this crime is the result of crime organizations that are embittering the lives of Israel’s Arab citizens, sowing terror and fear in their communities, and running protection rackets that have become a plague for the country in general and not just the Arab sector. We are determined to fight this deplorable phenomenon, especially the head of the snake – the criminal organisations,” he said.

Netanyahu said the government has built 10 police stations in the Arab sector, which previously “hardly” had any stations. The government, he said, also allocated “huge” budgets to the police in order to hire thousands more officers and to establish “National Guard” that would fall under the command of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

“But it will take time to establish, absorb and train these forces – and we don’t have time. Therefore, I insist on bringing in the Shin Bet immediately,” Netanyahu said.

The creation of a National Guard, however, has been met with fierce criticism by both former police chiefs and opposition leaders who warn that it would be tantamount to giving Ben-Gvir his own militia.

Former Police chief Moshe Karadi went as far as warning that Ben-Gvir could use the National Guard could use it against the prime minister one day, and that Netanyahu “should learn a little bit of history and see what happens in countries in which politicians have their own armed forces.”

The use of Shin Bet against Israeli citizens has also been met with criticism, since the purpose of the agency is to fight terror, mainly coming from Palestinians.

Following a meeting between Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, Israel Police chief Kobi Shabtai, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, and National Security Advisor Teach Hanegbi,  Israeli media reported that the attorney general objected to bringing the Shin Bet into the fight.

“Changing the Shin Bet law will harm democracy,” the attorney general reportedly said, referring to the a law from 2002 that deals specifically with what Shin Bet can and can’t do.

Shin Bet chief Bar also said he was against using his agency, with Israeli media quoting him as saying: “We focus on thwarting terrorism. We assist the police, but it shouldn’t be our job. It will deprive us of resources, and there is concern that our sources will be exposed.”

Prior to the meeting between the officials, Netanyahu addressed the criticism that had already been aired about the possible use of Shin Bet. “I hear criticism by those who are saying ‘That will not change anything’ and by those who are saying ‘It is too extreme a step.’ I believe that is exactly the step that is required and the problems entailed by taking this step must be overcome.”

“Only this way will we be able to reverse the trend quickly and provide a response to Israel’s Arab citizens who are hoping for the restoration of law and order in their lives,” the prime minister said.