A new Israeli law, which went into effect at the beginning of last month, bans Israelis from having their cars repaired in Palestinian Authority-controlled areas - and car thefts are already down significantly.
Israel Police's Etgar (Challenge) unit has been operating in recent months to dismantle the stolen car-parts industry - a mainstay of the economy of Arab villages in Judea and Samaria. The industry is based largely on car parts mostly stolen from Israeli vehicles and then transplanted - illegally and unsafely - into Israeli cars.
Etgar detectives carried out, over the past week, enforcement activity in the Arab parts of Hevron, the village of Nabi Alias between Kfar Saba and Karnei Shomron, and elsewhere. The police confiscated several dozen cars in various stages of being repaired, and questioned many Arab workers in the relevant garages. Police say the information will lead to indictments against the owners of the vehicles and of the tow-trucks that brought them to the Arab garages.
The findings thus far show that among those bringing cars to be repaired in the PA are dealers who buy totaled cars from insurance companies, bring them to the PA for "repair," and then sell them in "perfect condition" to the public at large.
The success of the new law and efforts have been successful, as the following statistics show: In 2006, the average number of cars stolen daily in Israel was 93 - while this year, that number is down to 66, and only 59 in the month of April.