Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Tuesday traveled to Nazareth, Israel's largest Arab-majority city, where he met with Mayor Ali Salem and other Arab municipal leaders to call on Israeli Arab citizens to go out and vote in next week's general elections.
In his speech, Lapid welcomed the drop in crime this year, following a record number of homicides within the Arab sector last year.
"The Arab sector's responsibility for its fate is expressed by the fact that it is part of democracy," he said.
He argued that if Israeli Arabs don't vote, "what was granted last year will be taken away from them."
"You vote for your lives, you vote to be part of democracy," he added.
Lapid last week pinned the blame for rampant crime in the Arab sector on the previous governments of his predecessor and current opposition leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, claiming they had neglected the issue for over a decade while in power.
Speaking to two prominent Israeli Arab outlets, the premier also pointed an accusing finger at the previous government for the sector's acute housing problem and expressed his support for the promotion of new housing projects in Arab communities to allay some of the pressure.
Netanyahu's Likud party is also trying to woo Arab supporters in the upcoming polls which are scheduled for November 1.
Hebrew media reported last week that Netanyahu invests more funds in promoting his dedicated Arabic-language Facebook page than any Israeli Arab party.