Violent Society?
Dina Kraft
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Tel Aviv
T
he morning after a 31-year-old
mother of two was gunned down
in Bat Yam by mafia hit men
in a botched assassination attempt of a
rival underworld figure, the front page of
Israel's daily Ma'ariv carried a single-word
headline: "Enough!"
The headline ran over a photo of
Margarita Lautin taken just moments
before her killing: on the beach, smiling,
her arms wrapped around her toddler son
wearing inflatable water wings, leaning
toward her husband and young daughter
sitting in the sand.
The picture has become a symbol of
the human toll violent crime is taking in
Israel — in particular, the plight of inno-
cent bystanders caught in the crossfire of
increasingly brazen shootouts between
organized crime syndicates.
Even though Israel's violent crime rate
remains lower than most Western coun-
tries, there is a growing sense among
Israelis that their streets, restaurants and
playgrounds are becoming increasingly
dangerous.
Last month, three bystanders were
injured when two gunmen opened fire at a
Netanya restaurant in an attempted hit on
Charlie Abutbul, allegedly one of Israel's
senior mobsters. At about the same time,
a pipe bomb was found near the home of
another suspected mob boss in Netanya.
The spike in mob-related violence has
Israelis nervous and upset.
"We must not allow what is taking place
in our streets:' Knesset member Ophir
Pines-Paz said during an emergency
Knesset hearing last month on organized
crime.
The sense of public unease has been
compounded by reports of other types
of violence this year, including severe
beatings and robberies of elderly Israelis
in their homes and this summer's shock-
ing cases of domestic violence against
children. Three 4-year-olds allegedly
were murdered by members of their own
families — two by their mothers and one
a grandfather.
Feeding into Israelis' concerns about
violent crime, the Israeli media are report-
ing more closely on crime stories, some-
times even bumping political news to lead
nightly newscasts with reports on the lat-
est murder or assault.
Criminologists say violent crime is on
the rise, but police refuse to disclose pre-
cise numbers. Experts attribute the rise to
Israel's growing population.
Although rings operated by Russian-
speaking Israelis are part of the problem,
police say most of the organized crime is
run by veteran Israeli families who peddle
in the international drug scene and are
involved in smuggling, illegal gambling
rings and demanding protection money
from businesses.
When it comes to victims of "criminal
terrorism" — the new term used by law
enforcement to describe innocent vic-
tims of violent crime, usually those per-
petrated by the mob — Knesset legisla-
tion is being drafted by the Shas Party
that calls for victims and their families
to receive the same sort of compensa-
tion from the state afforded to victims
of terrorism.
"We live in a society that is very dynam-
ic, that goes through changes very quickly,
and the nature of crimes being committed
is also changing:' said Simcha Landau, a
professor of criminology at the Hebrew
University.
"There is also the sense that something
at its very roots went wrong here he said,
referring to recent high-profile criminal
cases, including suspected corruption at
the highest levels of government. "The
society is in crisis and crime is one of its
aspects!'
A recent editorial in the Ha'aretz daily
decried the growing crime in the country.
"Not only is an Israeli's home not his
fortress because he is vulnerable to break-
ins, public areas have become battlefields
among rival underworld figures and
between them and the police the edito-
rialists wrote after a recent mafia-related
hit.
Regardless of where Israel stacks up
compared with other countries, the edito-
rial said, "What matters most is not the
dry calculations but the public mood. And
by that standard, crime is rampant and
the police have yet to find an effective way
to combat it."
The police counter that they are fighting
back and making personal security a top
Photo by Brian Hen dler
'Mafia' killings have Israelis ducking for cover.
Yitzhak Abarjil, right, the alleged head of one of Israel's most notorious crime fami-
lies, and his brother, Meir, flank an Israeli policeman as they wait for a hearing in a
Jerusalem court on Aug. 26.
priority.
Ratcheting up their battle against orga-
nized crime, as well as government cor-
ruption and other serious offenses, a new
national crime-fighting unit named Lahav
433 has been formed to coordinate intel-
ligence and operational activities.
The police also recently launched the
country's first witness-protection pro-
gram and drafted police units to fight
crime that in the past dealt solely with
terrorism. Police also formed new anti-
drug units.
Shortage Of Police
Despite these changes, Israel's police
commissioner, David Cohen, warned
in a recent interview with Ha'aretz
against high expectations, saying the
police suffer from a shortage of man-
power. There are 2.7 police officers per
1,000 residents in Israel, compared to
the European average of five per 1,000,
Cohen said.
In Netanya, where mob-related vio-
lence in September has made locals
jittery, Kobi Barda, the city spokesman,
called for a zero-tolerance campaign.
"We need to be able to catch people on
even the smallest infraction and make
them pay according to the law:' Barda
said.
Yitzhak Shemer, a police spokesman
for the region that includes Netanya, said
September saw a dramatic change in
police response. More officers now patrol
Netanya's streets, there are more searches
of suspect individuals and the police are
working to shut down illegal gambling
rings and restaurants known to be affili-
ated with organized crime.
Police also are conducting security
checks at restaurants known to be owned
or frequented by crime families.
"We are doing all we can to protect the
public:' Shemer said.
But police and prosecutors complain
that tougher laws and stiffer penalties are
needed. As one example, they point out
that membership in an organized crime
ring currently carries a sentence of just
nine months.
Avi Dawidowcz, the former deputy
head of investigations for the national
police unit in charge of organized-crime
investigations, said the focus needs to
be on deterrence through beefed-up
enforcement and increased police pres-
ence on the streets — in the style of
former New York City Mayor Rudolph
Giuliani.
"What works is not harsher penalties:'
said Dawidowcz, a lecturer at Bar-Ilan
University's criminology department, "but
to make sure these criminals know they
have a good chance of being caught!'
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October 9 • 2008
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