A national state of emergency, a special task force, and an annual budget of NIS 1 billion are at the center of a plan unveiled Monday by the Democrats Party leader, Yair Golan, to combat organized crime in Arab society.
Golan presented the plan, which he described as a "root treatment," at a press conference in Nazareth.
Under the proposal, Golan pledged that within the first week after the formation of a government led by him or including his party, a national state of emergency would be declared and a dedicated task force would be established to bring together the country's law enforcement agencies.
Golan outlined several key elements of the plan, including shortening judicial proceedings with the goal of moving from arrest to imprisonment within nine months, establishing dedicated courts for serious crimes, and launching a broad economic campaign to cut off criminal organizations' sources of funding and bar companies linked to them from public tenders.
Golan also announced the establishment of "Team 49," an interministerial body that would bring together the education, welfare, law enforcement, and rehabilitation systems to identify and rescue at-risk youth from the grip of criminal organizations. The body is named for the 49 children and minors who have been murdered in recent years.
Golan speaks to Israel's Arab citizens
During the press conference, held alongside a display of weapons seized in the field, including rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), automatic rifles, and handguns, Golan directly addressed Arab citizens and bereaved families and asked for their forgiveness.
"Sorry that the government abandoned you and gave up on its most basic duty, to protect the lives of its citizens," he said. "Instead of fighting the criminal organizations, it allowed them to grow stronger and become the de facto rulers of entire streets."
Golan also sharply criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, stressing that the rise in crime was neither inevitable nor a cultural issue.
"This is an ongoing failure of the government. A country that knows how to reach every terrorist organization in the world and expose nuclear facilities in Iran knows how to reach every criminal organization and locate illegal weapons anywhere in Israel. When there is a decision and a will, there is also the ability."
Golan said crime in Arab society should not be viewed as a problem affecting only one sector, but as a threat to Israeli society as a whole.
"When a criminal organization takes control of an Arab locality, it does not stay there, it reaches the roads, the cities, businesses, and all of our lives. No one will be safe until all of us are safe,"
Golan concluded, pledging: "Our first demand will be to receive the National Security Ministry portfolio. We have one test, the test of results."
MK Naama Lazimi presented a firm position on the role of Arab society in Israel's political and social future.
Drawing on childhood memories from the Migdal HaEmek, Yafia, and Nazareth area, Lazimi described how the shared life she once took for granted had eroded as a result of what she described as discriminatory government policies.
Lazimi stressed that "democracy is measured not only by the inclusion of the minority but by the treatment of it," and said Arab society must be an integral part of rebuilding a cohesive and democratic Israel.
She sharply criticized the current government, saying that approximately 700 citizens had been murdered since it took office and describing the failure to provide security as abandonment rather than governance.
Lazimi also addressed potential partners in a future coalition, calling on them to abandon cynical political calculations and stop rejecting partnership out of fear.
She made clear that "those who ignore the existing situation give power to the elements seeking to destroy shared life in this country."
MK Gilad Kariv accused Netanyahu's governments of abandoning Arab society for years, which he said had contributed to the spread of weapons and deadly crime.
Kariv argued that Netanyahu and his political partners had turned Arab citizens into enemies for political reasons. He stressed that combating crime requires Jewish-Arab partnership.
According to Kariv, his party would not be drawn into Netanyahu's "disqualification campaign" and would work to ensure that Arab citizens are included as equal partners.
Parents of crime victims speak out
Parents whose children had been murdered also addressed the conference. Among them was Dr. Ashraf Sapia, a well-known and respected dentist and the father of 15-year-old Nabil, a gifted student who was shot dead while walking on a street in Kafr Yasif.
"For those who don't know, I am Nabil's father. A gifted child who studied all day for his biology exam, and with permission from his father and mother, went out for a walk after a full day of studies. At seven thirty, after the visit from his father and mother, at eight o'clock he came back in a coffin. Now, Nabil, like every boy, every girl... We in Arab society have been abandoned. For 70 years we lived in this country; there were no people killed. We were young, we were children, we were little, and we didn't have this. 75,000 weapons circulating.”
"My duty is to protect my son, teach him, and educate him. But who guarantees me... Now my youngest son, two groups in Kafr Yasif want him for soccer, I work at a hospital, work at my clinic... Who guarantees me that he finishes soccer practice in Kafr Yasif and that from the game he will come home and no one will come near him? No one can guarantee that. And the one who deals with this is the top of the pyramid and downward. Whoever abandoned us, then he has to move himself aside and bring us people who will look us in the eyes.”
"I thank you very much, and with God's help I see light at the end of the tunnel. I really see light. We will succeed because God does not accept this chaos. There needs to be order. I fulfill my obligations, and the entire sector fulfills its obligations, but we are asking the leadership to protect us. Simple. That's all."