New headquarters for tacking Arab-sector crime launched

The National Headquarters for Combating Crime in Arab Society announced its establishment on Tuesday, as violent crime continues to plague Arab Israelis across the country.

The headquarters was created in response to what its founder described as a “deliberate state failure” in the government and police’s handling of the wave of crime.

Set to operate in cooperation with the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee and both Jewish and Arab civil bodies, the headquarters aims to “make clear that organized crime is not a ‘cultural fate,’ but rather the result of political policy that diverts the police from fighting crime,” the announcement stated.

The headquarters included a list of demands in its statement, including a push to restore government funding for civilian crime prevention tools and programs.

It additionally called for the government to take measures toward restoring security in Arab-majority areas, including efforts to collect illegal weapons, solve murder cases, and dismantle organized crime organizations.

The headquarters’ establishment comes after violent crime in the Arab-Israeli sector hit a record-breaking high in 2025, with over 250 Arabs murdered, according to the statement.

Approximately 50 Arabs have been murdered since the start of 2026.

Only 15% of such murders are solved, the headquarters added, stating that the low justice rates have led to a “deep crisis of trust” between the Arab public and law enforcement.

“The only conclusion is that crime grows in places the state chooses to abandon,” the headquarters said, adding that it has committed to coordinating protests, as well as working with the international community in order to apply “parliamentary and public pressure on the government to demand the restoration of security to the streets.”