An Arab-Israeli journalist was shot dead in his car in northern Israel on Sunday evening, the apparent motive being his reporting on organized crime in the country’s Arab sector.
Nidal Agbaria, 44, was shot dead at close range by at least two masked men while sitting in his car outside of his home in Umm Al-Fahm, a high-crime city with a population that is entirely Arab.
Last year, criminals shot 50 rounds at Agbaria’s house, in what was believed to be a warning regarding his reporting.
“I am conscious of the growing violence in Arab society, and the ease with which people pull the trigger, so I am extremely careful with every sentence I publish”, Agbaria told the Haaretz daily after the incident.
He added that “the atmosphere is tense due to the increasing threats against Arab journalists, and following the shooting the fear is greater. It shows that no one is immune.”
According to veteran Arab crime reporter Hassan Shalaan, Agbairya was “definitely killed because he was a journalist,” he told the Kan public broadcaster. Shalaan said he was fearful for his own life and that threats are routinely issued to Arab crime reporters.
“A journalist was murdered [because of his profession] tonight — an event that only happens in third world countries,” Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel wrote on Twitter.
“The weapon that shoots a journalist inside the [Arab community] is the one that will be used against Jews outside the community,” he added.
The international community, including the U.N, E.U. and U.S., did not comment on Agbaria’s murder, unlike the death of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, which prompted a slew of outrage directed at Israel after she was killed during a firefight with Palestinian terrorists in Jenin.
Yellow tape marks bullet holes on a tree and a portrait and flowers create a makeshift memorial, at the site where Palestinian-American Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed in the West Bank city of Jenin, May 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed, File)
After her death, Biden administration officials slammed the killing and underlined the importance of the freedom of press in Western democracies. There were no statements released this time around.
Agbaria’s murder comes amid an upswing of violence in the Arab community in Israel. Arab Israelis are in possession of the overwhelming majority of illegal firearms.
A day after Agbaria’s murder, Manar Hajaj, 34, and her twin 14-year-old daughters were shot as they were returning home from a grocery shop. Hajaj and one of her daughters died on the scene, while the other was taken to hospital in critical condition.
Police said the murders were the result of a spat between warring Arab families.
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