National Unity chairman MK Benny Gantz visited the Israeli Arab town of Qalansawe on Sunday with MKs Gideon Sa'ar and Gadi Eisenkot and Qalansawe Mayor A'bd Albast Salameh.
After the visit, MK Gantz stated: "Whoever thinks the crime organizations stop at the border of the Arab towns is mistaken. We saw a painful reminder of this near Ofakim last week. Ask the farmers in the north, ask the mayors in the south. It is a statewide problem. The entire country.'
Netanyahu says he's 'determined' to bring the Shin Bet into the picture. He's been in power for nearly 15 years, you can say everything about Netanyahu except that he's determined. I have news for him, the Shin Bet already has been helping the police for a while already, and it's involved in some of the issues, such as weapon thefts which also flow into terror. But first of all, give tools to the police.
They need to apply administrative detention on the crime families carefully and with constitutional responsibility, Gantz claimed and declared: "Don't wait for the National Guard, you can already show presence in the field with the Border Police reserve battalions that we created. I tell Netanyahu the violence can be stopped only when you see the strengthing of governance in Tur'an (an Arab town in northern Israel) with the same gravity as you see the preparedness for Tehran."
He added: "Just as we created the Covid Cabinet, which allowed us to make decisions on the national scale concerning the pandemic, we need to create a cabinet to fight the crime epidemic. We all need to sit, every week, around the table and join forces - in legislation, in the field, in the economy, and in education. During today's cabinet meeting, they needed to form a cabinet to fight crime and violence - and to convene today. The Education Minister needed to announce a week of studies that concentrate on the war on violence. The Welfare Minister needed to strengthen the welfare departments in the cities where there is violence. The time has come that the government gets involved and that one person leaves it."
According to Gantz, "The Public Security Ministry needs a minister with experience in action, not PR. A minister who knows how to work together with the police commissioner and command, and to brief against them and fire them in the media. A minister who can gain the public's confidence and give it the feeling of safety, and not one who has been delegitimizing it for decades. Every day that the keys to security are in Ben-Gvir's hands, the Prime Minister is giving up national security. I call on Netanyahu to fire him today. The experiment failed, and the price is heavy."
MK Gideon Sa'ar stated: "When someone from the Arab sector is murdered, it pains us as well. The most important issue that needs to be dealt with in the state of Israel is the fight against criminal organizations and returning personal security, and we call to put this on the top of the national agenda, I said this as Justice Minister and led a line of legislative moves to deal with the matter. We will work hard for better days and the return of security for all Israeli residents."
MK Eisenkot: "The responsibility is also on the appointed minister and mostly on the Prime Minister. Otherwise, it's difficult to explain the fast collapse and the 300% rise in the scope of murders, together with the understanding that there is something deeper here. There are no shortcuts, there is joint hard work that will bring security to all parts of Israel, security that every Israeli citizen deserves."
Qalansawe Mayor A'bd Albast Salameh: "We lost hope, we have a part, but that part is forgotten for so many years, and the new government puts up a National Security Minister who has no experience at all, now of all times when the experience is needed. I thank my friends from National Unity for their care and solidarity, thank you for being here, but I hope that this continues and that there will be activities and solutions in the field after you leave. The hope of Qalansawe residents and the entire Arab sector relies on you leading this country."