Joint Arab List chairman MK Ayman Odeh addressed the police during a speech in the Knesset plenum Wednesday asking them to deal with violence in Arab society.
Odeh said, "94 of my neighbors, my brothers, were killed this year. We, the Joint List, call on you to step in, mow their faces, cut off the face of the organized crime organizations - we want to live in a society without weapons."
Odeh delivered the address during a discussion in the Knesset on a proposed amendment to the penal code which was proposed by the Joint Arab List as well as a similar proposal by Likud MK Gideon Sa'ar.
During the debate, MK Odeh, the initiator of the proposal, said in an emotional speech: "You have to decide, either you are with our society or you are with the criminal organizations. The question is not academic. You have no idea what it is like to be an Arab parent whose heart misses a beat every time his son leaves home. You have no idea what it is like to be a young Arab who is a hundred times more likely to be killed by gunfire than to die from the coronavirus."
The proposal seeks to stipulate that the various offenses set forth in section 144 of the Penal Law, which concerns the acquisition of a weapon, its possession, transportation, etc., will be subject to a minimum penalty of half of the penalty currently set by law. It is also proposed to provide that whoever transfers to the police or army a weapon held without permission within 180 days from the date of publication of the proposed law, shall not be charged with the commission of that offense unless the weapon was involved in a felony-type offense.
The explanatory memorandum to the proposal reads: "137 Israeli citizens were killed or killed in 2019, most of them with firearms. This figure joins the fact that in recent years there has been an increase in the number of offenses committed using illegal weapons. This dangerous phenomenon keeps many citizens from sleeping, regardless of nationality, religion, or place of residence. "
In the meeting of the initiators of the proposal with Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn, it was decided that a response and a vote on the proposal would take place at a different date.