Bedouin blood feuds continue to escalate: Fourteen suspects were arrested in Arara in the Negev on Wednesday night after they allegedly opened fire at Electric Company employees who were fixing powerlines that were damaged during a blood feud between local families. One of the employees was lightly injured, apparently from shrapnel, and was taken for medical treatment.
Officers from the Arara police station, Southern Border Police officers, and undercover officers, with the assistance of a police helicopter, evacuated the employees safely.
Electric Company CEO Meir Spiegler sent a strongly worded letter this morning to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, demanding his immediate involvement. "I wish to call your attention to a serious and ongoing matter which damages not only the electric infrastructure, but also public security, the personal safety of Electric Company staff, and the entire economic system," he wrote.
In his letter, Spiegler described "severe and ongoing crime" including the theft of transformers and copper wires, damage to equipment, and gunfire at electric infrastructure. According to the CEO, the phenomenon causes widespread power outages for both private and public consumers, and in recent years, there has been a sharp increase in such incidents, even more so since the beginning of 2024.
The CEO warned of severe consequences: a direct threat to the company's employees, a safety risk to citizens as a result of electric shorts and fallen infrastructure, and economic harm to the entire public. He called for an inter-ministerial effort to increase enforcement, raids on theft rings, deterrent punishments, and legislation that would recognize damage to critical infrastructure as a severe state security offense.