Israeli Arabs are estimated at 20% of the population, yet were over 40% of the offenders in 2010.
According to the report, 45,275 people were charged with crimes in Israel in 2010, over 90% of them adults. Of those, around 90% were men and more than half (53.6%) were repeat offenders. Eighty-six percent were found guilty of at least one of the charges against them.
The report said that adults are more than twice as likely to get convicted of crimes than minors, and that the most common offenses committed by adults fall in the category of public disorder. For juveniles, property crimes make up the majority of arrests.
The report also found that non-citizens make up 18% of those charged with crimes, a significantly higher percentage than their proportion of the population. Of these non-citizens, 97% were either Palestinians from the West Bank or tourists. Among juveniles, 24% of offenders were non-citizens, and almost all (99%) were Palestinians from the West Bank.
View original Jerusalem Post publication at: http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=283859