One of the major industries that have developed as a result of the signing of the Oslo Agreement in 1993 is the car theft industry, one that has netted handsome profits for PA (Palestinian Authority) residents, and one that has plagued Green Line Israel.
As a result of the astronomical number of cars stolen from Israel proper annually, insurance rates have gone up, luxury car owners are compelled to install GPS systems and other anti-theft industries have benefited as well. Countless Israel Police man hours are invested in tracking stolen vehicles, which many times are left in PA areas since retrieving them does not justify the risk to security forces. Insurance companies in many cases report a stolen vehicle is tracked to Ramallah or elsewhere, but the IDF will not enter and place soldiers at risk to save the insurance company a pay out to the owner.
The big losers are the Israeli car owners, whose rates continue to climb along with concerns of begin victimized by the many PA residents wandering the streets of Israel on a regular basis.
Israel Police officials have uncovered one car theft operation in the PA village of Yata south of Chevron, one that prints new documents to ‘legalize’ vehicles stolen from Israel along with new license plates. On many occasions, police have found stolen vehicles used by PA police and security officials, not to mention government officials, apparently seeking to cut operating costs and opting to use a stolen vehicle rather than purchasing one.
Police found 36 stolen vehicles in the raid and computers and other machines were confiscated along with many documents.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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2 Responses
actually the Israeli Police spend almost no time investigating, not only because the perceived threat of entering Arab territories but equally important is the 100% taxes Israelis have to pay when they replace the stolen vehicle! its a win win situation for the Government. A, increased tax revenue B, low use of police resources for grand theft auto!
also, its not families with two or more fancy cars that are getting their cars stolen, rather the needier families with older cars that will have a harder time replacing a stolen car.
the reason is because 1) an older model car driven into the PA is less likely to appear suspect- as opposed to say, a 2009 hummer.
2)newer cars are required to have all types of lojack and immobilizer apparatuses to make insuring a newer vehicle more affordable.