Education Minister’s Aide for Arab Society Shot Dead at Home

YERUSHALAYIM

Sahar Ismail, 50, who was in charge of education in the Arab society at the Education Ministry, was shot dead in the Arab town of Rameh in the north on Sunday morning.

Police forces rushed to the scene and launched an investigation into the incident.

Ismail, who was number 17 on the New Hope list to the Knesset, was recently appointed as an adviser on Arab Affairs to Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Bitton. He also was a former aid to current Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar.

Sa’ar described Ismail as “a kind-hearted man, a loving man and a lover of the country, an honest and brave leader, a true friend. I am having a hard time internalizing that I will never see Sahar again, with the eternal smile I saw yesterday. I am sure that the Israeli police will get their hands on the vile murderers and bring them to justice.”

The circumstances surrounding the murder are unclear.

74 Arabs have been killed in 2021 in crime-related incidents.

Arab-Israeli society is plagued with daily incidents of violence. Over 110 Arabs were killed in criminal violence in 2020 and at least 74 so far in 2021.

The police increased its activity against the plague of shootings and weapons offenses in recent years, and in 2020 arrested 5,713 suspects in shootings and other weapons crimes throughout the country, an increase of 22% compared to 2019.

The vast majority of police activity was carried out in the Arab sector, and about 90% of the suspects arrested for shooting and weapons offenses were Arab Israelis.

 

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