A relentless wave of violent crime among Israel’s Palestinian minority is turning cities and towns into bloody battlefields and exasperating the community. Anger over the mounting insecurity is directed at Israel’s government and its ultranationalist minister in charge of police, Itamar Ben-Gvir. Critics say that with his history of anti-Arab rhetoric, he cannot be trusted to combat the rising scourge. The skyrocketing violence also lays bare the deep inequities in Israeli society, with Arabs facing years of discrimination in housing, infrastructure and many other spheres. Activists say that has laid the groundwork for the unabating bloodshed.
