100th murder in the Arab community since the start of the year – report

A 25-year-old Bedouin man was stabbed to death near Ofakim, west of Beersheba, early Saturday morning, police are still investigating the circumstance of his death, Israeli media reported.

The MDA team arrived there and pronounced the man dead at the scene.

Two suspects were arrested in connection with the deadly stabbing, Israel Police announced later in the morning.

The death of the 25-year-old marks the 100th murder in the Arab community since the start of the year, according to a Ynet report on Saturday. Police are currently investigating the circumstances behind the murder with one option being that the attack was a criminal incident, the report said. Two arrests were made Saturday morning according to Walla.

This marks the 15th murder since the start of the month, adding to the deaths of the five young menincluding a 15-year-old in Yafia earlier this weekend and the murder of a young woman in the Western Galilee.

Police at the scene where five people were shot dead in the Arab Town of Yafa an-Naseriyye, northern Israel, June 8, 2023 (credit: FLASH90/FADI AMUN)

Government failure

Successive governments have struggled to properly tackle violent crime, as it has increased drastically this year. It took until November of last year to reach 100 murders, with this year only taking a little more than half the time to reach that mark.

Government ministers have started taking notice as Netanyahu ordered the establishment of a special committee, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir held meetings with Israel Police Chief Kobi Shabtai and other district commanders.

“I also intend to allocate enormous resources to this end by bringing police officers to the field, raising police salaries, and establishing the National Guard,” said Ben-Gvir.

Many residents in Arab-Israeli communities have blamed the government, police and Ben-Gvir. Talks of a general strike in the Arab community were also reported by Walla on Saturday.