A recent government proposal seeking to task the Israel Security Agency with dealing with surging crime rates in the Arab sector has drawn both criticism and praise but it may prove legally unfeasible, Israel Hayom learned Tuesday.
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On Sunday, the government decided to involve the agency, commonly known as the Shin Bet, as well as the military in the fight against organized crime in the Arab sector, saying their primary mission will be to collect illegal weapons, the easy availability of which is fueling criminal violence, which has claimed 96 lives since the beginning of 2021.
Maj. Gen. Jamal Hakroush, head of the unit fighting crime in the Arab sector, said Tuesday that "You won't see the Israel Defense Forces or the Shin Bet on Arab streets. The treatment and authority still rest with the police, but we need backup.
"We want the Shin Bet to assist, and regarding weapons, we will be the ones implementing [the raids]," he stressed.
The IDF, for its part, will focus on preventing cross-border weapons smuggling, as well as the theft of weapons from military bases and attempts to smuggle them into Israel from the territories.
The war against crime in the Arab sector should start with youths, Hakrush argued, saying that this segment of the population is "a ticking bomb."
"More than a third who finish high school remains in the street without work. It's easier for them to reach crime," he said. "We are asking for the treatment of youths before they are thrown to the street."
Regional Cooperation Minister Issawi Frej, told Kan 11 News that "personal security is the most important thing, hence I am in favor of the Shin Bet coming in to reduce crime in Arab society."
The Shin Bet is known for its exceptional intelligence-gathering prowess, but its mission is to counter Palestinian terrorism and it is barred by law from using its capabilities against Israeli civilians within the Green Line.
In fact, the government had to employ emergency measures to enlist Shin Bet surveillance capabilities during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic in Israel for the sake of contact tracing. Agency officials themselves were reluctant to do so, and the special authorization was lifted after a few months, as soon as other Health Ministry mechanisms were put it place.
Implementing them against Israeli citizens engaged in criminal activity, however, would be another matter entirely.
Former Shin Bet officials agreed that the ISA could significantly improve the fight against organized crime in the Arab sector, but warned the agency cannot be expected to take over for the Israel Police.
"The government's decision is in the right direction," said former Shin Bet Director Yaakov Perry.
"I also believe that from an intelligence standpoint, the ISA has proven capabilities among the Arabs Israelis as well as with the Arabs in Judea and Samaria, and here the agency has an advantage over the police. In general, the ISA also has special operational capabilities that have added value in this case, and it is necessary to prove who is sovereign on the ground before the situation trickles down to Jewish communities in Israel."
Former ISA officer Gonen Ben Itzhak told Israel Hayom that the agency can lend this effort its expertise in sifting through large volumes of information quickly and correctly prioritizing them, adding that the Shin Bet should help the police develop similar capabilities.
"Within Israel, the Shin Bet doesn't have the same capabilities it exercises in Judea and Samaria because the law prevents it from acting against Israeli citizens, so the police ostensibly have an advantage because their intelligence coordinators know the criminal organizations much better," he explained.
"But here the police have a weakness because each district and each unit deals solely with the criminal organizations in its sector and if there is a cooperation between criminal organizations from different parts of the country then even if the police units share information – no action is taken to create a bigger picture.
"Here the Shin Bet has an advantage because it has an intelligence desk that takes all the information from various sources and knows how to integrate it and prioritize operations. In this area, the police are currently failing. The political echelon sees there are no results and is referring the matter to the ISA.
"This ability cab be taught," he said, "The police, too, can form a national desk to integrate the intelligence [gathered] from the various units. Using the Shin Bet is not a magical cure. Anyone who thinks the agency can solve all of these problems is wrong," he stressed.
Former senior ISA officer Doron Matza said that the boon the Shin Bet can provide in this case lies with the fact that it can "crack the networks used by organized crime the same way it cracks terrorism networks.
"This experience gives the Shin Bet an advantage over the police and the military, but the agency cannot be expected to conduct weapon raids on the ground," he stressed.
"The Israel Security Agency is a secret service and raids mean deploying police officer and Border Police troops on the ground. Practically speaking, the police have the ability and manpower to do this better than the Shin Bet, but the agency can provide it with the necessary intelligence."
Still, involving the ISA in the fight against organized crime in the Arab sector may not be legally possible at all, as Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit has ruled such action does not fall under the agency's purview.
Following the government's decision on the matter the Association for Civil Rights in Israel called on Mendelblit to rule on the issue, and he has found that as fighting crime is not part of the Shin Bet's duties under the General Security Service Law, the agency cannot take part in such efforts, even in cases involving severe crime in the Arab sector.
"The issue of expanding the ISA's jurisdiction is not being discussed at this time," he said in his response to the ACRI's petition.
"At the meeting of the ministerial staff, it was decided that the [security] service will continue to operate in certain aspects related to the issue, which it routinely deals with as part of its mission under the law, along with actions to increase coordination and cooperation between government agencies and various relevant bodies," the attorney general said.
The ACRI welcomed the decision saying that Mendelblit, too, "understands that involving the Shin Bet in the fight against crime in the Arab sector would create a dangerous precedent. We will keep monitoring the situation closely to ensure that the Shin Bet isn't inserted into this matter using some creative interpretation of its authorities."
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