Arab society marks deadliest year on record, with 252 murder victims in 2025 |
As 2025 draws to a close, Arab society in Israel is mourning its deadliest year on record, with 252 people having lost their lives in crime-related killings.
The tally by the Abraham Initiatives organization, a coexistence group that pivoted in recent years to focus on the human toll of surging crime in the Arab community, flies in the face of Police Chief Commissioner Danny Levy’s claim last week that law enforcement has seen a “continuous decrease in crime statistics” this year.
In fact, the past three years have seen a huge uptick in violent crime among Arab citizens of Israel. Homicides have become the new normal in Arab cities and towns, and many of those with blood on their hands are able to roam free, uncaught and unpunished.
According to the organization, of the 252 victims, the vast majority (88%) were killed in shootings, reflecting authorities’ struggle to combat a major uptick in arms trafficking through Israel’s borders.
The bulk of those killed were men ages 18-30, but a record number of women were also killed this year, with 23 female victims.
While often the victims were involved in criminal activity themselves, many of those killed and injured have been innocent bystanders. In some Arab locales, residents have taken to keeping indoors and say they hesitate to allow their kids to walk to school for fear of being caught in the crossfire.
On November 23, Sabah Abu al-Qian was in a supermarket in the northern town of Jatt with her 7-year-old sister when an expanding bullet caught her in the shoulder.
According to her cousin Anas, who spoke to The Times of Israel in early December, she held on long enough to call her father while being treated by paramedics, but died of her wounds in an ambulance en route to a hospital.
Of the 218 deadly criminal incidents........