Serving for years as a combat officer in the IDF means growing accustomed to the sound of gunfire. It is an inevitability of the profession that many, including myself, chose.
But that familiarity is not something that our children are supposed to have, ever. And yet, this is the reality for thousands upon thousands of children in the Negev. Night after night, they hear the sounds of gunfire from nearby Bedouin communities.
This is one of the end results of the illegal smuggling of hundreds of thousands of weapons into Israel that we have to label as what it is – not a criminal threat but a national security threat, a terror threat.
Such weapons smuggling, rising crime rates, and reckless driving on the Negev’s roads are examples of the total loss of control by the government over Israeli territory. For me, this is not a political issue; it is daily life.
I live on a kibbutz in the Negev. For myself and my neighbors, this embodies the risk of crime, the constant danger on our roads, the sound of gunfire at night, and dear friends who have decided to relocate.
How can this be allowed to happen here?
None of this is inevitable. It is a result of failed policy. When it comes to tangible action plans that are being implemented on the ground, this government simply does not have any. The statistics bear this out: in 2025, there were 46 murders in the South, a 119% increase from the period of the previous government led by Naftali Bennett.
Ask my neighbors under which government they felt safer, and you will receive a clear answer. Under Bennett’s government, significant progress was made in combating crime and restoring sovereignty in the Negev. Having done it before, there is no doubt that with such leadership, a new government can do it again. Doing so begins with making two fundamental decisions.
Arms trafficking as an act of terror
First, acknowledging that weapons smuggling is not a criminal issue but a terror threat, then committing to fighting it as such. Second, implementing a detailed action plan that has been carefully designed with leading regional experts in counterterrorism, law enforcement, and social policy.
Beyond simply bringing the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) into the fight – an important first step but not enough on its own – our underlying principle has to be using what is referred to as the Al Capone method, which is an “all of the above” approach leveraging all enforcement mechanisms at our disposal.
This includes financial law enforcement and ending protection rackets, with the goal of choking off funding for criminal syndicates. Then we need to double police presence and impose strict sentences for criminals.
Also required is a crackdown on illegal construction alongside investment in accelerated development within recognized communities. That last piece is just one element of what we need to do to address social gaps in Bedouin communities that ultimately provide a vacuum in which crime thrives.
On that front, we must also bring the education system in Bedouin communities truly in line with Israeli standards and values. Moreover, we must use all the legal and financial tools at our disposal to eradicate polygamy, incentivize Hebrew studies, and provide pre-army preparatory programs for youth.
Finally, we must provide better employment opportunities by opening more industrial zones.
Taken together, the approach the Negev needs and that we are offering is simple: sticks and carrots – carrots for those in Bedouin communities who choose to be a law-abiding part of Israeli society, and an uncompromising stick for those who choose to break the law.
In the last few years, my neighbors and I have found ourselves, like many Israelis, fending for ourselves. But with the right plans and the right team, we can fix this. We have to address this problem with the urgency of meeting what it truly is: a threat to Israel’s security and sovereignty.
Both as a public servant and a resident of the Negev myself, I will measure the next government’s success and hold myself accountable based on simple metrics: Are fewer illegal weapons circulating? Are crime rates down? Are roads safer? And can the children in communities like my own sleep quietly through the night, without the echoes of gunfire?
The writer is the former CEO of Aharai, a reserve IDF officer, and a B’Yachad candidate for the Knesset.