The Jewish Home | JULY 1, 2021
morning with the Public Security Minister and we agreed on the formulation of a national plan to fight crime in the Arab community as soon as possible. “We will do this in all dimensions: civil, economic, and, of course, criminal. This is, first of all, the desire of the community itself and it is of course an overall national interest.” He added that since the beginning of 2021, “dozens of people have been murdered in the Arab community.” “The violence in the Arab community is a blight on the country that has been neglected for many years. Responsibility for fighting this is on our shoulders. This is a national mission,” he concluded. Bennett made his comments after five Arab Israeli citizens were killed in deadly shootings over the past four days. Deputy Police Commissioner Jamal Hakroush said Sunday that there is a “historic” opportunity to address high crime rates in Arab Israeli communities, noting the inclusion of Arab lawmakers in the ruling coalition. “I have a message to the Arab sector,” Hakroush told Kan news. “We are in a historic period and we have to take advantage of it. We have representatives in the government that can bring what was lacking — like budgets and policing to the Arab street.” Hakroush is the first Arab Israeli to be a deputy police commissioner. The Islamist Ra’am Party, which joined Bennett’s government coalition, ran on a platform of tackling violence in Israel’s Arab communities. When Ra’am signed a coalition agreement in early June, it noted that Bennett and his coalition partner, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, agreed to provide NIS 2.5 million ($770,000) to fight violence and organized crime in Arab society.
members, including former Bnei Brak Mayor Rabbi Mordechai Karelitz and former IDF planning chief Major General (Res.) Shlomo Yanai.
The team was appointed by current Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut and was tasked with conducting a detailed investigation of the disaster and recommending changes for the future, both for the site and for other mass events, especially those of a religious nature. The commission will have a budget of six million shekel ($1.83 million) and will investigate “the entirety of professional and legal questions regarding safety procedures at religious rites and the public venues that host them, particularly events that involve mass participation.” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett expressed, “Forty-five people lost their lives in that awful disaster, and the responsibility for learning the lessons and preventing the next disaster is on our shoulders. A commission cannot bring back those who have perished, but the government can do everything to prevent unnecessary loss of life in the future.”
National Guard Soldiers Can’t Feed Families
Investigating the Meron Tragedy The Israeli government taskforce investigating the disaster on Mount Meron on Lag B’Omer will be headed by former Supreme Court Chief Justice Miriam Naor, a Sunday announcement proclaimed. In the tragedy, 45 people were killed and over 150 were wounded. The team will consist of three
National Guard members and reservists are suffering hunger at more than double the national rate, data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows.
The data, from mid-April through early June, showed that those in the National Guard report more food insecurity than nearly any other group, even after controlling for household income, education, age, and race. Almost one-fifth of National Guard members sometimes or often do not have enough to eat, and one-third of those with a spouse serving in the National Guard or reserves reports not having enough to eat. According to The Washington Post, in an ordinary year, most reservists and National Guard members spend one weekend a month running drills and two weeks a year in training. As a result, most are able to work civilian jobs or acquire an education. However, during the pandemic, the National Guard has seen longer periods of deployment and activation, including for coronavirus testing, food distribution, handling civilian unrest, and administering vaccines, National Guard Association of the United States spokesman John Goheen said. These responsibilities are in addition to responding to more natural disasters, such as floods and wildfires. According to Goheen, during 2020, the National Guard was acti-
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vated for over 11 million “man days,” a record since World War II; in 2019, there were just two million “man days.” At the same time, the increase in deployment has caused many to lose their civilian jobs. Meanwhile, National Guard spokesman Wayne Hall said there are 1.2 million service members in the Army and Air National Guard and the various branches of reserves, but the census accounts for less than 400,000 of them. “These figures are an underrepresentation of the full force,” he emphasized. “And almost a quarter surveyed didn’t report.” At the same time, several military advocacy groups reported a rise in food insecurity, suggesting that National Guard members and reservists are motivated to hide their difficulties and hesitant to seek help. The Washington Post quoted National Military Family Association lobbyist Jennifer Davis as saying: “A service member has to consider promotability and clearances: You can’t afford to struggle too badly; you have to keep your bills paid. You can lose your clearance if your finances are in a shambles, we’re talking even a bounced check. If it comes between paying the bills and keeping food
