Rising Youth Violence in Israel: The National Security Minister’s Response
Following reports of rising youth violence, including last week’s killing of 21-year-old former Israeli soldier Yemanu Binyamin Zalka, Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir made a forceful statement. “This will be an all-out war,” he declared, as he announced a nationwide operation aimed at combating the escalation of violence among young people. The minister stressed that safety on the streets would be restored and peace of mind returned to parents. “Anyone who harms Israeli civilians will face the strong hand of the Israel Police and pay a heavy price,” he said.
Criticism of the Government‘s Response
Ben-Gvir’s response was seen as incisive and in line with support for the victim, promising a solution to the security crisis. However, critics point out that this stance contrasts sharply with the minister’s inaction in the face of the epidemic of violence plaguing Israeli towns and villages inhabited by Palestinians. This situation has already resulted in the deaths of nearly 100 people and, according to data from Israel’s own Finance Ministry, the cost of this violence to the country reaches a staggering US$ 6.7 billion a year.
Allegations of unequal policing affecting what Israelis refer to as the “Arab sector” have been a constant in criticism of the Israeli police for decades. However, the situation has worsened under the current administration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been in power since late 2022, and of Ben-Gvir, a far-right politician in charge of the police.
Alarming Statistics
Since Ben-Gvir took office, statistics support the narrative that the crime wave in Palestinian communities has grown significantly. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz revealed that the homicide rate in Palestinian communities in Israel jumped from 4.9 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2020 to 11 per 100,000, putting it on par with countries such as Sudan and Iraq. By contrast, the homicide rate in Jewish Israeli society is approximately 0.6 per 100,000.
Although this increase cannot be entirely attributed to the current government — since Netanyahu was prime minister in 2020, when the rate was lower — critics argue that the inclusion of figures such as Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who show open disdain for Palestinians, has contributed to the escalation of violence.
Analysis of the Current Situation
Experts and analysts consulted by Al Jazeera did not hesitate to blame the Netanyahu government for the rise in the homicide rate. Lawmaker Aida Touma-Suleiman, a Palestinian member of the Hadash party and a critic of the lack of policing in Palestinian communities in Israel, said: “They really don’t care that Palestinians are killing each other, because they have been left to do so for years.” She criticized the absence of an effective police presence in Arab neighborhoods, stressing that the approach is hostile and geared toward repression.
While police stations are common in Jewish-majority areas of Israel, there are only about 10 in Palestinian-majority areas. One of the decisions that most outraged groups for the defense of Palestinian rights was the approval, in December, of a US$ 68.5 million cut to an economic development program for Palestinian communities, intended to fund an increase in policing.
Structural Inequality and Poverty
Palestinian citizens of Israel make up about 21% of the country’s population. Economically disadvantaged, they are descendants of Palestinians who did not flee after the creation of Israel in 1948 — an event they know as the Nakba, when approximately 750,000 Palestinians were forced from their land. Often concentrated in towns and villages separate from Jewish Israelis, Palestinians face a reality of chronic underinvestment, with the state‘s presence limited or nonexistent.
Analysts say unemployment has always been part of these citizens’ daily lives, but the situation has worsened since Israel restricted access to the occupied West Bank, where many Palestinians worked, after the Hamas-led attack on October 7 and the start of the war in Gaza in 2023. The most recent data, based on 2024 estimates, indicate that 37.6% of Palestinian families in Israel live below the poverty line.
Growth of Criminal Networks
In recent years, criminal networks in Palestinian towns and villages in Israel have grown in scale and influence, in some cases taking on the characteristics of mafia organizations, undisturbed by the current government. Daniel Bar-Tal, a professor of social and political psychology at Tel Aviv University, said there is a broad network of criminal gangs exercising control over Arab neighborhoods. He also noted that crime and even homicides are allowed due to the complicity of the state.
“In part, the government simply benefits from it. They can say: ‘Look, this is Arab culture, this is Arab society. This is how they act,'” said Bar-Tal, referring to accounts from friends who reported criminal activity in their neighborhoods and were ignored. “And finally, it is because the police force is under the control of Ben-Gvir, a racist who delights in dehumanizing Arab society.”
Criticism of Ben-Gvir’s Performance
Ben-Gvir has rejected accusations of racism, saying he is only against those who harm Jews. His actions, ranging from support for the genocide in Gaza to defending officers who were filmed raping a Palestinian prisoner, have caused discontent among many of Israel’s self-described liberals, as well as shocking observers around the world.
With rising crime in Israel, criticism of Ben-Gvir’s performance as National Security Minister has begun to gain ground in the media. In addition to more predictable opinion pieces in the liberal Israeli press, which accuse him of being “busy on TikTok” while Zalka was being killed, or of focusing his efforts on arresting teachers who wear Palestinian flags on their kippahs, criticism has also come from figures close to the establishment.
Earlier this month, Israel’s Supreme Court intervened in a dispute between Ben-Gvir and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, ordering the two to reach an understanding after Baharav-Miara sought his removal, alleging attempts at political interference in police work.
“Nobody cares whether Ben-Gvir is good at his job,” said political scientist Ori Goldberg. “He is there to punish the Palestinians, even those in Israel. They are punished through the lack of security, just as they are punished through hostile planning, and the lack of access to healthcare penalizes them. That is how apartheid in Israel has always worked.”
