Analysis: Why has organised crime exploded in Palestinian communities in Israel?

Analysis: Why has organised crime exploded in Palestinian communities in Israel?

In December 2003, a bomb ripped through the heart of Tel Aviv as part of a brazen attempt to assassinate Israel 's notorious crime boss Zeev Rosenstein.

Rosenstein survived what would be the seventh attempt on his life, but three bystanders were killed.

The attack, which occurred during the height of the Second Intifada and exposed the growing power of the criminal underworld, triggered widespread anger across Israel.

Responding to the outrage, the government - led by Ariel Sharon - launched a series of measures that would fundamentally reshape Israel's approach to organised crime.

Organised crime would now be treated as more than a law-and-order problem. It was defined as a strategic threat to Israel's social and economic resilience.

The government passed Resolution 4618 and established an offensive, multi-agency strategy that brought together the Israeli Police, the Tax Authority, the State Attorney’s Office and the Israel Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition Authority.

The aim was not merely to arrest low-level operatives, but to dismantle the financial infrastructure that sustained major criminal organisations.

Read more: Why has organised crime exploded in Palestinian communities in Israel? Israeli police patrol a street in Jabel Mukaber, a Palestinian neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, on 18 September 2015 (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)