The surge in crime and violence across Arab towns and cities, with armed gangs controlling public space, has left many Arab Israeli citizens feeling helpless and under constant anxiety. Weapons are everywhere. We have entered a new phase, a dangerous one, they say.
Once, the streets in Arab towns were full of life – children playing, neighbors talking, shops open late. Now, criminal groups and a flood of weapons have made those same streets unsafe.
“Sometimes, when I get phone calls early in the morning, I get stressed,” said Rawyah Handaqlu, a social activist and lawyer from Haifa now living in Jatt, an Arab town in Israel’s Triangle region. “You immediately start to think maybe it’s another shooting. It could be someone from the neighborhood, friends, or relatives.”
Having reached a point many describe as out of control, killings, shootings, and attempted attacks targeting individuals now occur almost every day, fueled by criminal rivalries and clan disputes.
A deadly start to 2025
The opening week of the new year has been especially deadly; 11 Arab residents were killed in just seven days.
In the northern Arab town Shfaram, three men were shot dead at a construction site on Wednesday. Shortly before that, a 20-year old medical student was killed in the Bedouin town of Arara in the Negev. All are believed to have been murdered over disputes between rival crime groups.
On Monday, Adham Nassar (39) and his 16-year-old son, Nadim, from the village of Turan, were murdered in Nazareth. They had come to a client’s house to fix a technical issue with the camera system as part of Adham’s work. He brought his son to help. As they finished and were about to leave, they were caught in the crossfire. Locals said the father and son were apparently not the intended targets; they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
A few hours later that same day, another murder took place. Mahmoud Ghawi, a 30-year-old barber from the Arab city of Kafr Kara, was killed when gunmen reportedly entered his salon and shot him at point-blank range.
“What we’re seeing is organized crime. It’s not just sporadic criminals. These people are sophisticated, using advanced technologies,” said Handaqlu, who heads Eilaf, the Center for Advancing Security in Arab Society.
She told The Jerusalem Post that one of the most crucial problems is that armed criminals have become the “new rulers.”
They run the public sphere as if it’s their own property, with no fear of being held accountable. “They abuse and attack residents without even being concerned about getting punished for their acts,” she explained.
“These gangsters know that no one is after them, and that they will not be brought to justice, so they continue to do whatever they want.”
A recent report of Eilaf said that 77% of murders occur in the streets and public places.
Violence in the Arab sector has intensified dramatically over the past three years. According to Abraham Initiatives, an NGO tracking violence and other issues linked to Arab society, there were 252 victims from the community in 2025. This figure includes 12 Arab citizens who were killed during police law enforcement operations. By comparison, in 2022, violence and crime claimed 116 lives.
The vast majority of those killed were men, with about 10% women. Over half of the victims were young men in their twenties. Another statistic shows that nearly 90% were shot dead, highlighting that most killings are committed with firearms obtained by the assailants.
Kamel Rayan, founder and head of Aman, the Center for Combating Violence in Arab Society, said that this intolerable routine has been largely driven by easy access to weapons.
“Arab society has been hijacked by criminal gangs,” he told the Post.
“There is an arms race, and weapons are easy to find. These armed men are holding us, the ordinary residents, hostage. They have no morals or redlines,” Rayan said.
Many illegal weapons in the Arab community are stolen from Israeli army bases, while others are smuggled from the borders with Jordan and Egypt. Some also come from the West Bank, where small workshops produce them.
Over the years, some estimates have suggested there may be a few hundred thousand of these firearms, though the actual numbers haven’t been officially confirmed, and uncertainty remains.
For Rayan, it’s not just about numbers; it’s a personal tragedy – his own son was killed by a gunman 16 years ago.
“People are waiting for the next killing. No one knows when their turn will come,” he said. “What we see now is the result of the absence of law and deterrence.”
He described weapons as the “criminals’ social and economic patent,” used by gangsters to dominate citizens’ lives. “These criminals seek to dictate every aspect – from public institutions to mosques and schools,” Rayan explained.
“They have even established their own ‘arbitration courts,’ which serve as an alternative judicial mechanism for settling disputes within the community, thus weakening the traditional sulha system [the long-standing Arab mechanism for resolving conflicts]. Many people now turn to the criminals to solve their problems instead of recognized clerics or official courts.
“The gunmen want to become the local ruling authority, and nobody can stop them, because their weapons make them stronger than everyone else,” Rayan said, noting that local council and municipality workers and their families have often faced intimidation and threats from these armed criminals.
“They want to manage local budgets and make decisions for community leaders. For example, heads of local councils may not always be able to promote building projects in the places they choose without the consent of gangsters, who want to be involved in everything.
“What can mayors and community leaders do in that situation? They don’t have divisions or tanks,” Rayan said sarcastically.
He stressed that even if the police seek to stop the violence, the train has already left the station, and the “explosion” is already here. However, he pointed out that only a political decision by the state could contain the raging violence. “The police need to renew their capabilities, techniques, and way of thinking to combat the escalating crime,” said Rayan.
“We [Arab Israelis] are already living this disaster of crime and violence, and if decisive steps are not taken by the state to curb it, Jewish cities will also be affected. The ‘explosion’ is on its way there,” he said, adding that it’s only a matter of time before the violence spills over into the non-Arab population.
Lately, criminals engaged in score-settling, family feuds, and acts of revenge have begun filming themselves while carrying out violent acts. They take videos as they shoot on the streets with rifles and guns, fire at vehicles, and attack stores and businesses. Then, they post them on social media.
Arab teenagers are exposed to these videos, and their families are concerned that the youth might try to imitate these criminals and see them as role models. “This is dangerous for the younger generation,” said Handaqlu.
“It could shape their minds in the wrong way. Some teenagers already believe that these gangsters are the symbol of being macho, that being violent means you are a real man.”
According to Handaqlu, only 15% of murder cases are solved. As a mother of two children, aged 10 and 13, she shared a deep concern felt by many parents.
“Even schools are not safe anymore today,” she said. “We expect to feel secure when we send our children to school, but the cycle of violence has also spread to places that are supposed to be the most protected.
“The criminals, the murderers, and those involved in crime are still here between us, walking around and moving freely in our neighborhoods. They go to the same places we go. Many have not been caught. As long as these criminals are not arrested, more killings could be on the way,” Handaqlu warned.