Why has organised crime exploded in Palestinian communities in Israel?

Organised crime has surged in Palestinian communities within Israel due to numerous factors. Israel's failure to effectively prosecute most criminal cases has transformed organised crime into a political crisis for Palestinian citizens, revealing shortcomings in policing, investment, and state protection.

In 2003, a bomb attack aimed at Israel's notorious crime boss Zeev Rosenstein exposed the growing power of the criminal underworld, prompting the government to implement measures that elevated organised crime to a strategic threat. These measures included the formation of an offensive multi-agency strategy, investment in elite enforcement units, and the establishment of a Witness Protection Authority.

Historically, organised crime in Israel was predominantly Jewish, but after the weakening of Jewish criminal organisations in the mid-2010s, a vacuum emerged. This vacuum allowed organised crime to infiltrate Palestinian communities in Israel, where weak state institutions, limited policing, widespread illegal weapons, economic marginalisation, and vulnerable local authorities provided fertile ground for criminal activity to thrive.

In 2015, there were 58 murders in Palestinian communities in Israel, which increased to 89 by 2019 and reached approximately 230 in 2024. Remarkably, more than four out of every five murder victims in Palestinian communities were Arab, despite Palestinians comprising only about 20% of Israel's population. The state's ability to solve these murders is also significantly poorer, with only around 15-18% of murders in Palestinian communities solved compared to over 50% in Jewish society.