Here are some basic numbers. The picture is not pretty. In fact, it’s horrifying.
As of early May 2026, Israel’s annual homicide toll stood at 111, with 96 of those victims being Arab citizens — roughly 86% of all murder victims, in a community that constitutes about 21% of the population. Haaretz
The NGO Abraham Initiatives noted that 2026 is the fastest pace at which the Arab community has reached 100 murder victims in over five years. The Jerusalem Post
The Arab community’s murder rate in 2025 was approximately 11 per 100,000 — a figure the Finance Ministry compared to countries like Sudan or Iraq. Haaretz
For context on the Jewish rate: in 2023, the homicide rate among Jews and other non-Arab Israelis was 0.85 per 100,000, meaning Arab Israelis’ violent death rate was more than 13 times higher than that of Jews. The gap has only widened since. In 2024, there were 220 homicides in the Arab population compared to 58 among Jews, whereas until 2015, the ratio was roughly 4:1. Taub Center
Israel Police have solved just 15% of homicides in Arab communities versus 65% among Jewish Israelis, according to Knesset data.
What is happening here? How can Jewish Israel be a country in which there is, essentially, almost no murder at all, while in the Arab community, theoretically protected by the same police and same court system, the plague of killing is entirely out of control?
What is the cause of all this? What are the police doing and not doing? Are there those in the government who are actually happy to see the murder rate rise? Why would that be? Who is killing whom and why? Is there anything that can be done?
We hear today from an Israeli Arab woman, a lawyer and activist, Rawyah Handaqlu. What she has to say isn’t easy to hear—but we need to.
Rawyah Handaqlu is a lawyer and social entrepreneur, and the Director of Eilaf –The Center for Advancing Security in Arab Society. She led the Emergency Headquarters for Combating Crime and Violence in Arab Society, operating under the National Committee of Heads of Arab Local Authorities. Rawyah brings extensive experience working with local government, civil society, and multi-sectoral frameworks.
She holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration and Public Policy for Local Government from the University of Haifa. She writes policy papers and articles on social and public policy issues, lectures widely, and is a social activist working to advance equal opportunities and a shared society.
She is a recipient of the Peres Center for Peace “Knight” Award, was selected to TheMarker’s“40 Under 40 –Most Promising Young Leaders” list, and received the Rising Star for Human Rights Award from the New Israel Fund UK.
The link at the top of this posting will take free subscribers to an excerpted portion of today’s conversation.
For paid subscribers, the link at the top will take you to the full conversation; below, paid subscribers will also find a transcript for those who prefer to read, as always.
