Palestinians in Israel call for increased efforts against crime

Business Owners in Palestinian Towns in Israel Take Action Amid Crime and Neglect

A shopkeeper from Sakhnin, a town in Israel’s north with a majority Palestinian population, has closed his businesses after receiving a threatening message. The message, sent to his phone earlier this month, stated that the sender knew where he went and walked, and would kill him if he didn’t complete a task. This incident is part of a pattern of organized crime targeting Palestinian businesses in Sakhnin and other towns.

The shopkeeper’s decision has sparked protests among Palestinian citizens of Israel, who are also affected by government neglect. More businesses have closed their doors, with no plan to reopen them, as a form of protest against the organized crime that has become endemic in these communities.

Protests have spread beyond Sakhnin, with tens of thousands of people from both Palestinian and Jewish Israeli backgrounds taking to the streets in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem over the weekend. The demonstrations aim to raise awareness about the issue of organized crime affecting Israel’s remaining Palestinian communities.

Aida Touma-Suleiman, a member of the Israeli parliament representing the left-wing Hadash-Ta’al faction, has spoken out on the violence. She stated that while statistics show 252 Palestinians were murdered in Israel in 2025, they do not capture the full extent of the issue. Many Palestinians are forced to pay nearly all their income for protection, and the fear and anger among them are growing.

Palestinian citizens of Israel make up approximately 21 percent of Israel’s overall population. They are descendants of those who were not displaced in 1948 and live separate lives from the rest of the population in isolated towns and villages. Many believe that the state is absent from these communities, rather than actively working against them.

According to data from Israel’s National Insurance Institute, about 38 percent of Palestinian households fall below the poverty line, with many living well below it. Unemployment rates are high, and access to the occupied West Bank has been restricted since the outbreak of Israel’s conflict in Gaza in 2023.

Source: Al Jazeera