Police car
Police carIsrael news photo: Flash 90

According to business daily Calcalist, Israeli police have been very secretive about crime statistics in the country – and for good reason. While crime overall has been falling, it has been rising in some of the country's largest cities, including Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, and Modi'in.

In a special report, Calcalist said that unlike in the US, where statistics are freely available, it is almost impossible to get hold of city by city crime statistics (information regarding specific neighborhoods is not even compiled, the paper said). After much investigation, reporters were able to track down specific statistics for 230 communities in the country.

And while crime has been falling in much of the country, that is not the case in some of Israel's largest cities. Rahat, the Negev Bedouin city, saw crime rise by 18% between 2011 and 2013, while crime in Ashkelon rose 16% during the same period – followed by Nazareth, with an increase of 15%. Meanwhile, crime rose 14% and 8% respectively in Modi'in and Petach Tikvah, both home to many Western immigrants.

While crime overall was down in Tel Aviv by 3% - mostly due to a dramatic 16% drop in car theft - muggings and violent acts of theft were up a whopping 37% during the period. The same holds true for Beer Sheva; crime there was up 4% during the period – with car theft down by 24%, but crimes of a sexual nature jumping 61%.

Based on statistics, the paper said, Tel Aviv was Israel's most dangerous city, with 77 crimes occurring for every 1,000 residents. Bnei Brak, a largely hareidi section of greater of Tel Aviv, the report said, was Israel's safest large town.

Police had no comment on the report, the paper said.