In Nazareth, there is no trust in Netanyahu’s promises: “We are lying inside”

“Obviously the visit is only political. If he thinks he has contributed to Arab society then he is lying and there is no basis for his remarks,” said Mahmoud Ali, a city resident. “They should not have accepted him, especially during the election period. I am sure that if the election took place in a few years, Netanyahu would not have visited the Arab localities. Let him be ashamed of himself and stop lying to us inside,” he added angrily.

In his speech, Netanyahu promised to soon unveil a new plan to eradicate crime in the sector and addressed the Arab public: “I am personally committed to ensuring the security of each and every one of you, that you can leave your homes without fear.” Netanyahu added that this was now an “opportunity for a new era” in relations between Jews and Arabs.

“This is an opportunity to start an era of respect and equality,” he said. “The peace agreements I have brought with Arab countries will bring many more investments that will benefit all Israeli citizens, and first and foremost with Arab society. Anyone who claims that we mentioned the Arab public only before the election or is lying or does not know the facts.”

The prime minister promised to set up more police stations in Arab localities, saying he had asked Homeland Security Minister Amir Ohana to prepare a plan that would eradicate violence in the sector and be presented “very soon.” The program, he said, would include “both scouts, both technological means, also a lot of resources – everything you need.”

However, the residents of Nazareth, it seems, were not convinced. “Netanyahu only speaks and promises promises in the air,” said a city resident who was previously injured in a shooting incident. “He must not be believed. Everyone knows that he did not act to eradicate crime and violence in Arab society. 111 victims were murdered last year and we did not hear a word from him – that means how unimpressed he is by the Arab blood. Crime continues, citizens suffer and no one will hear us.”

Abed Said, another resident, said: “Even if Netanyahu goes around in all the Arab localities, we will not support him. He is just lying to us inside. For many years he abandoned Arab society and despised us.” Said added that he “will not forget” Netanyahu’s statement from the 2015 election day, in which he warned that “Arab voters are moving in large numbers to the polls”, nor the Nationality Law – which in the Arab sector and among other minorities, such as the Druze, believes he discriminates against The Jewish majority. Said called on Arab citizens to “beware” of Netanyahu’s attempts to obtain their votes. “If you vote for him, he will throw you out.”

Netanyahu apologized in his speech tonight for his 2015 statement, but claimed that his words were distorted and “were not properly understood.” “My intention was not to warn against the very vote of the Arab citizens of Israel. All Israeli citizens, Jews and Arabs alike, should vote. My intention was to warn against voting for the joint list.”

Some residents of Nazareth also criticized Mayor Ali Salam, who spoke after Netanyahu and praised his work. “You also take care of all the residents, you do not care about an Arab or a Jew,” Salem told Netanyahu in a statement issued by the two from the city hall. “And with all the mess you have you also make peace, and peace is good.”

One of the residents who spoke to us said: “Salam always talks nonsense, he does not even know what he is saying. He wants to stand out through Netanyahu while saying things that show how much he is a person who has no self-respect. He represents only himself and not the Arab public. “.

Ahead of Netanyahu’s visit, several city residents and Knesset members from the joint list demonstrated. Several of the protesters, including former MK Hanin Zoabi, confronted the police and as a result 10 of them were arrested. Palestinian flags were also hoisted during the demonstration, and some of those present claimed severe violence from the police. Several members of the joint list who attended the demonstration were removed from the scene. MK Sundos Saleh was injured in the clashes and evacuated for medical treatment.

MK Hiba Yazbek said that contrary to the reports that were circulated, she was not arrested, but nevertheless arrived at the police station following the arrest of two of her advisers. “This is Hiba, from the police station,” she said. “Contrary to the report, I was not arrested, even though the police were violent. My advisers Alaa and Amar were arrested. Police violence was wild and insane. Bibi ends his political path with shame and disgrace. “

MK Ahmad Tibi said: “Netanyahu is lying without blinking. He incited against all Arab voters being Arabs. He did so in the 2015 election and again incited against the citizens in the three election campaigns held in the last two years. Netanyahu did not talk about the common denominator, but about the very threat posed by the legal voting of Arab citizens. He recently discovered the Arab voice through consultants and is now trying to turn us into his useful idiots.

“Netanyahu will translate his ‘love of surprise’ to the Arabs by repealing the Nationality Law, stopping house demolitions and eradicating criminal organizations. He will not do that. This is a temporary love for the Arab voice and it will dissipate immediately at the end of the election. “The Arab doctors and nurses who treated his parents also flocked to the polls before Netanyahu flocked to the Arab localities.” It is time for unity on the joint list to respectfully represent the Arab public. “

The chairman of the joint list, MK Ayman Odeh, added: “During a decade in Netanyahu’s rule, criminal organizations have allowed our streets to be destroyed and prevented master plans that led to the demolition of our homes. There has never been a prime minister who incited against the Arab population like Netanyahu. “All of us as an existential threat. Whoever lowers his head before a racist will end up becoming his victim. There are no shortcuts, only a united voice of Arab society and Jewish partners will ensure the interests of Arab society.”

Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin criticized the removal of MKs by the police. “I congratulate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his important visit to the city of Nazareth today. The attempts of extremists to prevent the visit are worthy of all condemnation. “Members of the Knesset are a necessary component in our ability to fulfill our role. We must ensure that this right is also respected by the police,” Levin said.

During his visit to Nazareth, the prime minister often boasted about the past achievements of Arab society, but the Arab authorities claim that the promises made were not kept.

He referred to his statement on the day of the 2015 Knesset elections, according to which “Arab voters are moving in huge numbers to the polls.” Today he claimed that “for years political elements distorted my words. I said then and say even today – my intention was not to warn of the very vote of the Arab citizens of Israel. All Israeli citizens, Jews and Arabs alike, should vote. My intention was to warn against voting for the joint list.”

In a video published by Netanyahu himself on election day, not a word was said about the joint list. He said in the video – “Right-wing rule is in danger, Arab voters come in huge numbers to the polls, leftist associations bring them on buses. Gentlemen, we do not have V15, we have order 8, we only have you. Go to the polls, bring friends and family, vote sick, We will close the gap between us and the Labor Party. “

After clarifying about that video, Netanyahu said during his visit today that “four years ago I did something that no prime minister has done before me – I passed Resolution 922 to invest a huge sum of NIS 15 billion in Arab society.”

Ala Gantos, the committee’s economic adviser, says that “15 billion shekels were never transferred, the government imposed on Elkin and Knesset Speaker Levin to review the decision and how tenders can be passed to monitor construction permits and they imposed barriers that made it difficult for local authorities to use the budget. So that the plan will not be implemented. ”

“The plan came from below, from the finance officials who sat with the heads of the authorities and the budget department of the finance,” adds Gentos. “When we talked to Netanyahu about sewage in the streets and classrooms without a roof, we saw his disconnection. It never burned in his bones.” We can not say that the program has closed or reduced the gaps – there are still a lot of problems in education, health and welfare – all these issues were not included in the program at all. “

Netanyahu also referred today to the state of crime in the sector, saying: “I agreed with Deri and Katz, on Bibbs’ recommendation, on immediate action for each mayor – to take 15% of the development budgets and allocate the necessary measures for personal security.”

The directive came after a letter sent yesterday to Netanyahu by local government chairman Haim Bibbs and chairman of the Arab authorities Modar Mons, in which they explained that “Arab society has no capacity to solve the problem itself.” The two called on the prime minister to “put the issue first”.

The letter proposed legislative action and budget allocation, but instead of allocating an additional budget for this purpose, Netanyahu ordered the use of 15% of the existing authorities’ budget. “These are marginal sums,” Mons claims. “If the defense budget on appeal is NIS 1 million a year, what can be done about it? In some authorities it is a few thousand, which will not help improve the sense of security. In the past they talked about NIS 3 billion. If we collect all 15% of the authorities, it is about 80 a million shekels”.

Gentos also claims: “This is money that was ours anyway, so what did you do with it? Did you allow us to use the money found to install cameras? Placing cameras in an average locality of 5,000 residents is six million shekels.” According to them, this is not the way in which the problem of personal security of the residents of the Arab sector will be solved, nor will the many murders in it be eradicated. In 2020, 111 members of the Arab sector were murdered. In the year before 94 people.

In his speech, Netanyahu credited the establishment of nine police stations and three police stations in Arab localities from 2016 to the present. Although during Netanyahu’s time many stations were indeed established in Arab localities, such stations also existed before – in Taibeh, Tamra and other localities.

But are the establishment of more and more police stations a satisfactory step in eradicating violence in Arab society? According to the head of the appeals council, Mod Mons, it is not enough to set up police stations: “The number of murders only increases every year, so the fact that they set up police stations does not mean that it is a solution to the problem. More and more buildings are not set up.” They do not feel safer, they prefer to help Jewish communities, where they feel safe. ”

Gentos also referred to a plan submitted about a year ago to eradicate violence in Arab society. “We received a draft with a policy statement but no budgets were transferred, so it has no operational significance.”