Israel Police: No violent incident among Arab Israelis during war

Arabs Israelis have not perpetrated violent incidents in response to the war, Israel Police Insp.-Gen. Kobi Shabtai said Sunday.

“There’s a connection to the local leadership at the territorial level, and we are in talks, while at the same time, we’re ready for every eventuality,” he told the Knesset National Security Committee.

The committee meeting was held to discuss police readiness for a situation similar to that of Operation Guardian of the Walls in 2021, which was accompanied by multiple violent incidents and lynches of both Arabs and Jews.

“In Guardian of the Walls, we were surprised because we didn’t know anything, and the situation flared up over social media,” Shabtai said. “Now, we’re using the covert and overt intelligence system, and we’re responding to trends and can analyze and prepare in advance.”

The police have received more than 2,400 reports of people taking photos of houses, Shabtai said.

“I want to calm the public,” he said. “We are more spread out and more ready for every eventuality. All the reports were dealt with. We’re not taking this lightly.”

An Arab is murdered roughly every day and a half

There have been no alarming incidents between Arab Israelis and Jews, but seven Arabs were murdered over the last two weeks in crime-related incidents, Shabtai said.

While these events are not necessarily related to the war, they are nonetheless disturbing, considering that 207 Arabs have been murdered so far this year in crime-related incidents, he said, meaning that on average, an Arab Israeli has been murdered every 1.4 days.