Source: Associated Press

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel promoted an Arab police officer to deputy commissioner on Wednesday, making him the highest-ranking Muslim ever to serve in the force at a time when authorities are battling a wave of attacks by Palestinians that has frayed relations between Jews and Arabs.

In his new position, the 59-year-old Gamal Hakroosh faces an uphill battle overseeing policing in Arab communities, where residents are deeply suspicious of Israeli police. Many Israeli Arabs feel their community is discriminated against and stigmatized, and often view Israeli police with hostility and fear.

Israel’s Arab minority, which makes up a fifth of the country’s population of 8 million, has long had a fraught relationship with the Jewish majority. They hold full citizenship rights, but some Israelis, including top politicians, question their loyalty because they often side with their Palestinian brethren. The Israeli Arabs are generally poorer and less educated than Jews and suffer from discrimination and sub-standard public services.

In turn, a lack of effective policing in Arab communities — where crime is rampant and often left unchecked by police — has fueled tensions further. Arabs often accuse the police of being indifferent to Arab crime so long as the Jewish population is not affected.

With Hakroosh’s promotion, and the approval this week by Israel’s Cabinet of a plan to step up law enforcement in Arab areas, Israel is hoping to change that perception.

“To this day, we did not grant the Arab sector equal law enforcement services. In everything related to the police, we did not act with due equality,” Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said at the Tel Aviv ceremony for Hakroosh on Wednesday.

Israel plans to add police stations and hundreds of officers to serve Arab communities over the next five years. It has also recently announced a landmark billion-dollar budget intended to improve the living conditions of the Arab community.

Hakroosh hails from Kafr Kana, an Arab town in northern Israel that experienced violent demonstrations in late 2014 after a local man was shot and killed by police. He joined the police force in 1978, serving as station chief in a number of cities.

As deputy commissioner, one rank below the national police chief, he is now the highest-ranking Arab in the force. At least one Arab Druse officer has held the same rank, but Arab Muslims generally are less integrated into Israel’s security forces and those who do serve are often viewed as traitors.

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