Following a massive armed brawl that shocked residents of Israel's south, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett vowed Monday to tackle the surging rates of crime and violence before the country turns into a 'nightmare'.
"We are now regularly dealing with problems we used to think were inevitable,” the prime minister said in a special discussion of the ministerial team heading the effort to stem violence in the Arab sector.
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Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and the brawl in front of Soroka
(Photo: Mark Israel Salem)
“Our mission now is not to take our foot off the gas, but to continue with all our might until the mission is complete. We are working now, otherwise in 2030 Israel will be a nightmare to live in,” Bennett added.
The emergency meeting took place hours after a massive brawl between two Bedouin families from Rahat broke out outside Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva, with gunshots reportedly ringing through the air.
The scuffle outside south Israel’s biggest and most populated hospital resulted in the injury of four people and the arrest of 20.
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Shattered glass at the entrance to Soroka Medical Center after the brawl
(Photo: Haim Horenshtein)
The mayor of Be'er Sheva, Rubik Danilovich, meanwhile, dubbed the escalating crime wave in the country nothing less than a "national emergency” and "a real war on democracy".
"This is civil terrorism that is slowly beginning to take over the state," Danilovich said. "Murder cases have become routine and no one is waking up. Someone has to come and talk to the Israeli public, they are losing their sense of personal security.”
The brawl that shook the southern city comes months after the government unveiled a new plan to combat the spiraling violence among the country's Arab population.
Among other things, the plan includes collaboration of efforts between the IDF and the Shin Bet domestic security agency, meant to stop weapon smuggling, as well as other unprecedented means such as warrantless searches.