Israeli Arabs riot. (AP/Ariel Schalit, File) AP/Ariel Schalit, File

Netanyahu authorized additional security for Arab areas within Israel, which are suffering from an internal crime wave that has included murders, robberies, and horrific violence against women.

By United with Israel Staff

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided on Sunday to send additional security personnel to the Israeli-Arab communities to help curb the recent uptick in violence those areas are facing, according to a statement by the Prime Ministers Office.

The prime minister called on Arab sector leadership to “act responsibly and cooperate with the authorities in order to bring about a substantive change in the situation.”

Netanyahu also requested that they “refrain from violence of any kind in the context of protest action,” the statement reads.

According to the Prime Ministers Office, the security decision was made during a meeting between Netanyahu, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Israel Police Acting Commissioner Motti Cohen.

Israeli-Arab communities went on strike Thursday throughout the country to protest what it called “government inaction” in the face of a rising domestic crime wave that has taken at least 70 lives since the beginning of the year.

In September alone, 13 Arab deaths were reported within the Israeli-Arab sectors.

The strike was called by the Arab Joint List and the Monitoring Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel after the murder on Tuesday of two brothers, Ahmed and Khalil Manna, who were shot in the Upper Galilee town of Majd al-Krum in a domestic dispute.

Arab leadership acknowledged that their community should be held partially accountable for the surge in violence, but insisted that the government was not mobilizing the police and the courts as it should.