The government on Wednesday approved a plan for the Shin Bet security agency to work against the rampant violent crime in the Arab Israeli community, which has seen homicide rates soar in recent years.

The move, which will see hundreds of millions of shekels diverted from community development plans to fund enforcement, drew immediate condemnation from rights groups, which warned it was discriminatory and would deepen inequality between Jews and Arab citizens of Israel.

The plan was proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Social Equality Minister May Golan and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

Netanyahu described it as “dramatic news and a significant step” in the battle against organized crime.

“Combining the intelligence, operational and technological abilities of the Shin Bet with Israel Police actions, and the general enforcement bodies, will enable applying the best tools available to the country” to stop organized crime leaders, damage their infrastructure, and “restore personal security to citizens,” the prime minister said in a joint statement with Golan and Ben Gvir.

“We won’t accept a situation of violence, extortion and murder on the streets,” Netanyahu said.

Funds will be diverted from a five-year NIS 30 billion ($8.3 billion) program, dubbed the 550 Plan, created in 2021 under the short-lived Naftali Bennett-Yair Lapid-led government and designed to bring Arab communities on par with Jewish counterparts in areas such as housing, policing, and economic development after decades of neglect.

Golan said that under the new program, “instead of public money strengthening crime organizations, it will strengthen the Shin Bet and the police in the campaign against them.”

“Tremendous news for Israeli citizens, bitter news for crime organizations,” declared Ben Gvir, the far-right minister in charge of police, who has been accused of not doing enough to curb the violence that has already taken the lives of 156 members of the Arab community since the beginning of the year.

Some NIS 497 million ($166.4 million) out of the 550 Plan will be allocated for the national campaign against organized crime in the Arab community. NIS 345 million ($115.5 million) will be allocated to the Shin Bet to set up a dedicated unit on drugs........

© The Times of Israel