"There are enough weapons in the Arab Israeli sector to arm a military division," a police official warned Sunday, as the government approved budgets to fight violent crimes in the sector.
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If law enforcement authorities "fail to seize these weapons, and if the Arab citizens don't start seeing these huge quantities of weapons as a real threat to themselves and report it, any plan is doomed to failure," he warned.
The government has been increasing its efforts to curb the spike in gun violence in the Arab Israeli community, which has claimed 101 victims since January.
Earlier in October, Public Security Minister Omer Barlev announced that an additional 1,100 police officers will be recruited for the purpose of quelling community crime, fueled mostly by gang violence and organized crime.
On Sunday, the cabinet approved legislation seeking to expand the power of the Israel Police to operate in the Arab sector as part of the fight against crime.
Police data released this week indicated that so far in 2021, 34,000 illegal weapons have been seized in Arab communities, including 500 rifles. Upwards of 6,000 various ammunition items were found in the Arab sector and another 1,681 in the Jewish sector.
Some 5,000 suspects were arrested over the past 10 months in connection with gun crimes, 92% of them Arab Israeli. Some 96% of the illegal weapons confiscated were found in possession of criminal elements in the Arab sector.
Over 1,500 indictments over weapons offenses have been filed in the corresponding period, 90% of them against Arab suspects.
A police official said that so far in 2021, weapons offenses have increased by 22% compared to 2020– 3,542 versus 2,582.
Of the victims, 10 women were murdered over feuds between Arab crime families, and five more were the victims of so-called "honor killings."
Eight men were killed by stray bullets fired at known criminal figures, 20 men were killed in gang violence, and 60 were murdered over underworld feuds.
Police officials on Sunday criticized the local Arab leadership, saying that they were not fully cooperating the efforts to quell the violence.
Behind closed doors, top police officials said that the issue of violence in Arab society "runs deep and requires treatment and mobilization of other factors, including parents and educators, religious, spiritual and academic leadership, and local leadership."
Also on Sunday, the government approved two five-year plans for the advancement of the country's Arab sector, amounting to a combined 30 billion shekels ($9 billion).
According to the Prime Minister's Office, one plan seeks to provide greater employment, innovation and housing opportunities and the other focuses exclusively on fighting the upsurge in violence in Arab Israeli society.
"Our goal is to reduce the gaps in education, social welfare, women's employment and the economic-municipal sphere," Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said.
"The more we intensify education for mathematics and the sciences in the Arab sector and increase Arab participation in the high-tech market, the more we will all gain," he added.
The second initiative entails a series of actions to increase Arab confidence in law enforcement and cooperation among local leaders.
"It is clear to the entire government that the violence and crime on the Arab street constitute a threat to the State of Israel," Barlev said Sunday, adding that though this is a five-year plan, "The test for [its implementation] will be in 2022—and we will succeed."
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