Police Commissioner Dudi Cohen says the extent of Arab and Bedouin involvement in nationalist crime is worrisome - “but we’re prepared.”
Speaking at the Herzliya Conference on Public Policy this week, Cohen said he is concerned about the increasing involvement of Arab groups in nationalist-related criminal activity and public disturbances. “The Arab involvement in such activities is disproportionate to their numbers in the population,” he said. “They are increasingly using weapons to achieve their goals.”
He added, though, that both the police and the Arab leadership agree on the “goal of intensifying the culture of law and order in Arab towns, for the benefit of all.”
10th Anniversary of October Events - Coming Up
Cohen dedicated much of his speech to the relationship between the police and the Arab sector: “This coming October we will mark the 10th anniversary of the ‘October events’ [when Arabs in the Galilee and Um el-Fahm area rioted for several days, closed main highways, stoned Jewish motorists and pulled them from their cars, and caused heavy property damage; 12 Israeli-Arabs and one PA Arab were killed in clashes with police, and one Jew was killed by rocks], and implementing the recommendations of the Orr Committee is a central strategic objective of the police.”
The Orr Committee, established in 2003 to investigate the events, sharply criticized then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak, then-Public Security Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, and Arab leaders – but saved its harshest criticism for the police.
“Implementing the recommendations,” Cohen said, “is a critical junction in our cooperation with the Arab sector, in increasing dialogue, in establishing police centers, and in controlling public disturbances. We have done much, but there is much yet to be done.”
Sample Violence
A sample incident that occurred during the October riots involved Yaakov Ben-Hamu, 35, of Kibbutz Beit Alfa. Driving east along the Nachel I'ron (Wadi Ara) highway towards Afula, his way was blocked by some 15 masked Arabs. They noticed that he was Jewish, dragged him out of the car, and began kicking and punching him. The driver of a passing bus saw what was happening and picked him up, and Ben-Hamu watched out of the bus windows as the Arabs torched his car. A similar incident happened later in the same area, when Israeli-Arabs forcibly removed a driver from his bus and set the vehicle ablaze.
Regarding the police preparations for hostile Israeli-Arab activity, the Commissioner said, “The police have upgraded their abilities over the past year in terms of dealing with disturbances of this nature, in the light of realistic scenarios of rioting on nationalist, political, economic and religious backdrops. The past year provides good examples of how we dealt with incidents of this nature, including disturbances during Operation Cast Lead, the visit of the Pope, disturbances on the Temple Mount…”