Police Chief: Arab Crime ‘Intolerable’

YERUSHALAYIM
Roni Alshich. Photo by Avshalom Sasoni/Flash90
Police Chief Roni Alshich. (Avshalom Sasoni/Flash90)

Relative to their numbers in the population, Israeli Arabs are responsible for far more than their “fair share” of crime in Israel, Police Chief Roni Alschich said. Alshich was speaking at a special event in the Knesset celebrating the accomplishments of the police. His remarks were broadcast live on the Knesset Channel.

“The crime situation in the Arab sector is intolerable,” Alshich said in his remarks. “The main victims of crime in the Arab sector are Arabs themselves. There are many people in the Arab sector who want to help us bring the situation under control.”

Statistics issued by the police, said Alshich, illustrate his point. According to those numbers, Arabs, who make up 21 percent of Israel’s population, are responsible for 59 percent of murders and 47 percent of property crimes.

Also speaking at the event was Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan. Erdan had his own recommendations on the issue of Arab crime: “We need ten more police stations in the Arab sector,” he said. “In order to staff those stations we need an additional 1,300 police officers, who ideally should be members of the communities they are stationed in.”

For that, of course, more money is needed, and Erdan appealed to MKs to back a plan to increase funding for the project. “We need the help of Knesset members,” he said. “We are talking about another billion or two shekels for the Defense Ministry, the amount of money that gets spent in an hour or two when some shocking issue gets raised in a panel or committee and scares everyone.”

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