Problematic elements in Israel's Bedouin community are the products of religious radicalization, while Hebron is historically more religious and militant but controlled tightly by local clans, experts say.
Two recent deadly terror attacks, in Beersheva on Oct. 6 and Jaffa on Oct. 1, served as a painful reminder that terrorists with automatic weapons are, at least in recent weeks, deadlier than hundreds of Iranian missiles.
The attack in Beersheva on Sunday involved an M-16 wielding Bedouin Israeli gunman, identified as 29-year-old Israeli citizen Ahmed al-Ukbi from near Hura in southern Israel. Al-Ukbi opened fire on the city’s central bus station, murdering a woman and wounding eight other people, before being shot dead by Israeli security forces. The terrorist’s relative, Muhand al-Ukabi, 21, from the same location, conducted a shooting and stabbing at the same Beersheva bus station in October 2015, murdering an Israeli soldier and wounding 10 others, before being shot dead by security personnel.
According to professor Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, “The Bedouin society in the Negev is a ticking time bomb due to problematic elements growing within it. They [the problematic elements] are definitely not the majority of the Bedouin society, but they are very dangerous.