Military Munitions and Public Tenders: The Arc of Organized Crime

Police raids in October 2026 targeting the Abu Latif crime syndicate near Rameh and Zarzir uncovered not only firearms and narcotics worth millions of shekels, but also standard-issue IDF explosive blocks and an operational Matador anti-tank rocket (walla.co.il, n.d.-b; i24NEWS, 2026b; kan.org.il, n.d.). Simultaneously, fatal shootings claimed lives in Rahat (maariv.co.il, n.d.), Segev Shalom (israelhayom.co.il, n.d.), and Abu Tor in Jerusalem (סרוגים, 2026), while surveillance intensified around figures like Haggai Zaguri in the south (mako, 2026). Facing mounting pressure, Defense Minister Israel Katz, Police Commissioner Danny Levy, and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir announced that regular military units will replace Border Police in Judea and Samaria, freeing officers to focus on civil crime (Israel National News, 2026). This shift reflects official recognition that organized crime relies on military arms leakages and fundamentally destabilizes public safety (walla.co.il, n.d.-b; i24NEWS, 2026b).

In late 2025, Israel recorded its deadliest year on record for violent crime within Arab society, with 252 citizens and residents killed across 218 violent incidents, compared to 230 in 2024 and 109 in 2022 (walla.co.il, n.d.-a; מרכז טאוב, n.d.-a; The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com, n.d.). According to the Abraham Initiatives and the Taub Center, over 72% of the victims were aged 18 to 40, and roughly 88% of homicides involved firearms (walla.co.il, n.d.-a). The structural gap widened as police clearance rates for homicides in Arab society stood at only 10% to 15%, compared to roughly 65% in the Jewish sector (meforum.org, n.d.). National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and police leadership attributed these outcomes to personnel shortages and legal restrictions, while community leaders and the High Follow-Up Committee protested systemic neglect and inadequate enforcement (zman.co.il, n.d.).

This sustained escalation contrasts sharply with the policy under the Bennett-Lapid government, which passed Government Resolution 549 in October 2021 and launched Operation Safe Track under Deputy Minister Yoav Segalovitz (www.gov.il, n.d.). That inter-agency framework aligned police, tax authorities, and prosecutors against 1,400 targets, reducing homicides to between 109 and 116 in 2022 while seizing hundreds of illegal weapons (מרכז טאוב, n.d.-b; abrahaminitiatives.org, n.d.; abrahaminitiatives.org.il, n.d.-a). However, following the inauguration of the 37th government and Ben-Gvir's appointment in late 2022, Safe Track was discontinued in its original format and institutional ties with Arab municipalities deteriorated (inss.org.il, n.d.-a). By 2023, homicides surged to 244, shifting from localized disputes to brazen public executions, car bombings, and organized extortion targeting municipal tenders and officials (inss.org.il, n.d.-a; אתר קיימא, 2026; abrahaminitiatives.org, n.d.).

Beyond homicide statistics, criminologists highlight an economic and structural shift that consolidated syndicate power (אתר קיימא, 2026). Following Case 512 against Jewish crime rings a decade ago, Arab syndicates such as Abu Latif, Hariri, and Jarushi expanded into nationwide extortion rackets and public tender infiltration (מרכז טאוב, n.d.-b; timesofisrael.com, n.d.-b). The homicide ratio between Arab and Jewish citizens rose from approximately 4 to 1 a decade ago to roughly 14 to 1 in recent years (מרכז טאוב, 2025; מרכז טאוב, n.d.-b). Furthermore, the diversion of military-grade IDF weapons, including shoulder-fired rockets and explosive blocks, provides these syndicates with firepower rivaling armed militias, undermining the deterrence of civilian law enforcement (walla.co.il, n.d.-b; i24NEWS, 2026b).

Several decisive issues remain unresolved in the state response to organized crime. While government ministries promote economic countermeasures like the Mofet program to prevent syndicate infiltration into municipal contracting, verified data proving a substantial decline in extortion remains absent (zman.co.il, n.d.; meforum.org, n.d.). Meanwhile, the formal deployment of the Shin Bet internal security service in civilian criminal enforcement remains stalled amid sharp legal and political disputes (inss.org.il, n.d.-a). Finally, the true volume of illegal weapons circulating nationwide remains uncertain, with official estimates ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands, meaning tactical arms seizures have yet to alter the underlying balance of power on the ground (walla.co.il, n.d.-b).