Bar Lev meets Arab leaders on crime

Public Security Minister Omer Bar Lev on Tuesday met with the Forum of Arab Council Heads to discuss violence in the Arab sector and try to formulate a plan to significantly cut the crime rate. Bar Lev, along with his deputy minister, Yoav Segalovitz, and the forum discussed various proposals on how to harness the Arab sector’s leadership at municipal level to assist the ministry’s drive to eradicate violence, the illegal possession of weapons, which is widespread, and serious crime in Arab towns and villages.

Since the start of 2021, at least 48 Arab-Israelis have been killed in violent incidents, according to the Abraham Initiatives, a Jewish-Arab NGO, and over 50% of violent crime in Israel affects Arab citizens, who make up only around 20% of the state’s population.