Jerusalem, 7 September, 2023 (TPS) -- Israeli Arabs are increasingly moving to Jewish cities to escape the rising crime wave in their own communities. But a lack of infrastructure for shared living between Arabs and Jews in certain neighborhoods threatens to exacerbate social tensions.
Many Israeli Arab public officials contacted by the Tazpit Press Service did not want to be quoted by name, saying they are afraid to comment on the current crime wave.
“The Arab elite is fleeing en masse,” one official from the Haifa area told TPS. “Those who can leave the villages and cities, do not hesitate to move to the Jewish settlements.”
Another Arab official told TPS that organized crime has permeated so many levels of life in Arab localities.
“Crime families and criminals have infiltrated all areas of life and, among other things, they take over tenders in municipalities, pressure the heads of councils and municipalities to approve illegal construction, force school principals to hire dozens of women as teachers even though they have not undergone any training and this in order.”
According to the Abraham Initiative, a Jewish-Arab organization which promotes Arab integration into Israel society, 169 Arab Israelis have been killed in criminal violence since the beginning of 2023. This year’s spike in violence is attributed to organized crime groups fighting turf battles and trying to eliminate rivals. Arab criminal organizations have been involved in extortion, money laundering, trafficking in weapons, drugs and women.
“Already today you can see hundreds of Arab women in the gyms in the Jewish communities, families who come to community centers in Jewish communities and thousands who buy houses in the communities, mainly in the Galilee,” the official told TPS. “On the streets of Haifa and its suburbs, you can already see Arab women and men going for morning or evening runs, which are not acceptable in a large part of the Arab settlements.”
The phenomenon shows in localities across the country.
Haifa, which is emerging as a major hub for Arab residents, has earned the nickname, “the Tel Aviv of Arab society.”
“There is positive immigration also as a result of the state of the Arab settlements,” he said, “Haifa is a center of cultural activity with a secular character and it attracts quite a few young people and you can say that Haifa is the Tel Aviv of Arab society.”
In the north, Arabs are relocating to towns like Kiryat Shemona, Karmiel, Maalot, Acre, Atlit, Beit Shean and areas around Nazareth. TPS has learned that the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, an umbrella organization of Israeli Arab municipal leaders, has already classified the Galilee region as a mixed region due to this migration.
Others Arabs are moving Beer Sheva, which is often referred to as the “Capital of the Negev,” and western Jerusalem.
A review of various publications about the phenomenon shows that contractors in the northern Israel — particularly Haifa, Karmiel, Acre, and Maalot — report that increasing numbers of Arab families are purchasing homes in Jewish neighborhoods. While some attribute this to better schools and quality of life, Arab officials stressed that the surge in Arab crime is accelerating this trend.