Bedouin organized crime families are facing a crackdown by Israeli police, as the authorities work to bust so-called “protection” rackets and rampant intimidation in the Negev’s construction industry.

For years, residents of Israel’s south have complained about deteriorating law and order in the region, including widespread extortion which sees business owner forced to pay monthly “fees” to Bedouin mafias, or risk seeing their businesses vandalized or destroyed.

Even local government tenders have been affected by organized crime, with mafias controlling the allocation of lucrative state contracts to specific construction companies.