Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich ignited fierce controversy during a parliamentary session on Tuesday by asserting that the government bears no responsibility for the escalating homicide rates within Palestinian communities, claiming Palestinians “murder one another.” The inflammatory comments came during debates concerning his proposed 1.5% property tax on vacant land, which Palestinian lawmakers argue would disproportionately harm Palestinian landowners unable to afford development costs.
Palestinian parliament members, including Iman Khatib-Yassin, condemned both the tax proposal and the government’s perceived failure to address surging violence in their communities. Smotrich retorted by questioning whether the administration should be held accountable for intra-community killings, prompting immediate outcry with legislators labeling his remarks “disgusting” and “racist.” The finance minister further demanded that Palestinian leaders explicitly condemn terrorism and recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization.
This political confrontation unfolds against a backdrop of widespread demonstrations across Israel. Recent weeks have seen nearly 100,000 Palestinian citizens of Israel mobilize in Tel Aviv—one of the largest gatherings in years—to protest government inaction regarding rampant violence and organized crime. According to data from the Abraham Initiatives NGO, 51 Palestinian citizens have been killed in Israel since January, continuing a devastating trend that saw 252 fatalities in 2025 alone—a fourfold increase over the past decade.
Experts and advocates attribute this crisis to systemic neglect. Criminologist Dr. Walid Haddad notes that Israel has never treated this violence as a strategic threat, resulting in no comprehensive governmental response. Human rights lawyer Ahmed Khalifa argues that state policies deliberately enable criminal networks to flourish within Palestinian areas. These concerns are reinforced by historical context: Palestinian citizens, descendants of those who remained after the 1948 Nakba, continue to face discriminatory practices despite comprising 20% of Israel’s population. The community’s longstanding grievances include inadequate policing, socioeconomic marginalization, and institutional bias, as exemplified by former Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai’s 2023 statement that violence was “in their nature.”