This week, the Government of Israel is deliberating a new proposal to reallocate NIS 568 million from GR-550 to the Israel Security Agency (Shabak) and the Israel Police, expanding the Shabak’s role in addressing criminal organizations and violent crime. The proposal is part of an ongoing effort by Social Equality Minister, May Golan, and Minister of Internal Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, to shift funding away from five-year socio-economic development plans for Arab society and to increase the role of the counterintelligence agency in crime prevention in Arab society.
The move has been controversial on several grounds. First, it suggests that socio-economic development for Arab society is a competing, rather than complementary priority to crime prevention. Second, by increasing the use of counterterrorism agencies primarily in civilian law enforcement, the move reframes the type of law enforcement that needs to be used to address the crime crisis in Arab communities. The desperation for action on crime is so great in Arab society that increased enforcement is widely very welcome, but whether this should be done by police or counterintelligence agencies raises major policy concerns.
The Israel Democracy Institute and INSS are two examples of policy institutions arguing that this kind of diversion undermines the strategic logic on which Government Resolution 550 rests. In 2025, IDI researchers wrote that while “reducing disparities in education, employment, planning, public services, and community resilience is, first and foremost, a matter of democratic values and equal opportunity, consistent investment in all these areas also get to the core causes of crime and violence.” The INSS paper also argues that reducing violence requires both targeted action against criminal organizations and broader efforts to strengthen social, economic, and institutional resilience in Arab society.
According to a letter (e-mail) circulated by the Cabinet Secretary the proposed cuts would affect programs across multiple sectors, including employment, local authorities, industrial zones, culture and sports, and water infrastructure. In comments submitted during the interministerial review process, several ministries cautioned that the reductions could delay implementation of existing programs, reduce services, and affect ongoing efforts to narrow socioeconomic disparities between Arab and Jewish citizens. If approved as proposed, the measure would represent another reduction in the resources allocated to GR-550, following previous budget adjustments made during its implementation.
Currently, the remaining funds yet to be allocated in GR-550 are NIS 1.329 billion. After the diversion of NIS 568 million, the amount remaining for socio-economic development is NIS 768 million. However, actual budget reductions to Arab society stand to be much larger. GR-550 budgets are conditioned on matching funds from the relevant implementing government ministry (Labor, Interior, etc.). When the core budgets are cut, the individual ministries also do not allocate their own funds towards GR-550.
Regarding the appropriate use of law enforcement efforts and agencies, while there is wide demand in Arab and civil society for the government to take more effective action to restore personal security and reduce organized crime, there is disagreement over whether expanding the role of the Shabak is proper or effective for achieving this goal. Some Arab public officials have argued that the brutality of the crisis validates the use of all legal tools available to the state. Several Arab local authority heads, including Firas Badhi, Mayor of Kafr Qara, and Jamil Bassoul, Head of the Reina Local Council, called to advance the legal measures necessary to enable the Shabak participation in the fight against organized crime. Badhi and Bsoul “reaffirmed their support for involving the Shabak in efforts to curb violence and crime” and added that “there is not a single mayor who sleeps peacefully at night because of the violence and crime” (Kul-Alarab, 2026).
Most civil society and national political leaders in Arab society, however, oppose expanding the Shabak’s role, arguing that “the sole responsibility for law enforcement among civilians is the police, not intelligence agencies and the military … police for Jews and Shin Bet for Arabs” (The Times of Israel, 2021). The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) is filing a petition to the Supreme Court to halt the cuts. They argue that addressing criminal activity falls outside the agency’s legal mandate and caution against expanding the use of security authorities into civilian policing. Further, such measures risk blurring the distinction between national security operations and ordinary criminal law enforcement while raising concerns regarding due process, privacy, and judicial oversight (ACRI, 2026). In a letter sent to the Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, and Police Commissioner in October 2021, Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, argued that deploying the Shabak to address crime in Arab society is unlawful, exceeds the agency’s legal mandate, and raises concerns regarding the rights of Arab citizens (Adalah, 2021).
July 20, 2026, Update:
On July 15, 2026, the Israeli government approved a NIS 497 million reduction to GR-550. Funds will be redirected to the Israel Security Agency (Shabak) and the Israel police to combat organized crime in Arab communities. The approved reduction is smaller than the NIS 568 million cut initially proposed. Nevertheless, it represents one of the largest cuts to the five-year plan since its adoption.
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