The Hadera city council called an emergency meeting on Wednesday due to the recent and dramatic rise in crime in the city – dozens of shootings, a rise in weapons, as well as attacks, all within the last two months.
During this time frame, authorities recorded 20 shooting incidents, including those that involved grenades – an unprecedented figure for the city.
The meeting was live-streamed on the municipality’s Facebook page. The council decided, unanimously, to approve the proposal by Hadera mayor Nir Ben Haim to immediately allocate budgets to support the local security teams, especially at night, as well as some other steps that would provide a sense of safety and security.
An appeal to the government
The council also called on National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to come to the city and act to fight against the rising crime there. It demanded that police forces be reinforced and that new security cameras be installed in neighborhoods where a rise in crime has been registered.
Councilmembers testified that many residents pleaded to them to take action after the rise in shootings, sexual assault, and violence have become the standard.
While the meeting was live-streamed, residents took to the comment section to express their frustration and thorough lack of trust in the police.
“There is not a single evening without shootings and explosions,” one of them wrote.
Another commented, “This city has lost control, we live in fear.”
A different user wrote, “I don’t feel safe at all. We pay taxes and, in actuality, receive no protection in return. Every night, something else goes up in flames.”
Police said in response that it “takes very seriously the sense of a loss of safety felt in Hadera” and that it is fighting it at every possible level. It also heavily criticized Ben Haim for “blaming the police while people in his own family are one of the biggest crime gangs in the city.”