Some may say this is an exaggeration, and insist that Palestinian citizens of Israel lead normal lives, better than most Palestinians and Arabs. But in addition to widespread discrimination against and increasing political persecution of Palestinian citizens by the Israeli government, the number of Palestinian victims of organized crime continues to rise at a frightening rate.

According to a Taub Institute study, the Palestinian Arab community in Israel had the third-highest murder rate among OECD countries in 2019 — just below Mexico and Colombia — with 11.11 murders per 100,000 citizens, a figure that tripled for those between the ages of 20 and 34. The study also noted that murders in Palestinian Arab communities more than doubled, from 109 cases in 2022 to 233 in 2023, with a consistent climb in the murder rate every month through last September.

Following the October 7 attacks, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir moved quickly to expand gun ownership among Jewish civilians, and recently celebrated the approval of more than 100,000 new gun licenses. With more weapons on the street, according to Handaqlu, gun violence at the hands of criminal organizations has also proliferated.“The weapons distributed today under the pretext of Jewish security will be used against Arabs,” she predicted, “especially with the deteriorating economic situation and the chaos of the war.”

In March 2023, for instance, Ben Gvir decided to freeze the ministry’s cooperation in the “Stop the Bleeding” program, an initiative designed to deal with the rising violence and crime in Arab society. Forced to come up with alternative solutions, Handaqlu convened a roundtable of civil society institutions and representatives from several ministries, and has continued to work with local authorities to help improve their response to criminal activity and assist those affected by it.