Five individuals were killed Thursday in a shooting near Nazareth. A 30-year-old man and a 3-year-old girl were seriously injured by gunfire only a short while before that in the town of Kafr Kanna in northern Israel. The incident drew condemnations and demands for action from both sides of the political spectrum.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented: "I was shocked by the terrible murder near Nazareth. We are determined to stop this chain of murders. We will do so not only by reinforcing the police but also with the aid of the ISA (Shabak - ed.). I am determined to bring in the ISA to assist the Israel Police against these criminals and the crime organizations, and these murders. Earlier this week, I held a series of meetings on this issue with security, legal, and police officials and I intend to continue next week, and to achieve rapid results."
Opposition leader MK Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) commented: "The number of people killed in crimes in Arab society is increasing at an alarming rate. I share in the grief of the families of those murdered. The Prime Minister must himself head the team to combat violence in Arab society, as I did during my time, and not leave the handling of the issue to [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir, the worst and most failed minister the police has ever known. It is not acceptable that in a few months, the number of murdered people increased by 300% because of a continuous government failure.''
MK Merav Michaeli (Labor) said: "Five were murdered in a shooting incident and another three-year-old girl was seriously injured. Shocking. Criminal organizations do not care for the government. The complete opposite of some campaign promises from the most failed police minister in the history of the country. This is a disgraceful government. Go home.''
National Unity leader MK Benny Gantz commented: "I would like to share in the grief of the families of the murdered and wish recovery to the injured from today's severe shooting incidents in the north. The degree of crime in the State of Israel is shocking, in Arab society in particular."
"The time has come for the Prime Minister to adopt practical measures, 'step into the event' and put the issue at the top of the list of priorities. The first step should be to fire Ben-Gvir who is busy with shows of force in prisons and removing officers, instead of taking action in the field. He cannot handle such a complex event, and it is doubtful that he is interested in handling it. The National Unity party will back up every right and responsible step - an emergency plan is required," Gantz added.
MK Gideon Sa'ar (National Unity) commented: "Within a few minutes, two deadly shooting incidents took place. In the week in which the head of the division to combat crime in Arab society in the Israel Police resigned - the failure is deepening. And what did Netanyahu do this week on the issue? Oh, he met with the Hadash-Ta'al party. Ben-Gvir? He's staying out of it. What a bunch of idiots!"