Wednesday's incident in which the father of a household had to fight off an assailant who attacked his daughter and wife in the heart of an Israeli city is a mark of Cain and a warning sign that represents the reality in which residents of south Tel Aviv are trapped. Life has been unbearable for these residents for a long time. The phenomenon has already reached Yad Eliyahu (on the outskirts of south Tel Aviv), and we worry that it will not stop there. It makes one shudder to think how the event could have ended had the father not been home and acted, as he should have, to defend his family. Cellphone theft, assault, attempted rape and harassment are not isolated events but a daily occurrence in those neighborhoods, which have seen the number of infiltrators (some 45,000) grow in the heart of south Tel Aviv. In certain areas, the illegal immigrants almost double the local Israeli population. The numbers speak for themselves. Recent crime statistics from the police show a dramatic rise in crime perpetrated by infiltrators: In this past year, the police has arrested 1,048 illegal migrants from Sudan and Eritrea, as opposed to 684 in 2011 (a rise of 53.2%). In 2012, 1,092 cases were opened against infiltrators from Eritrea and Sudan (a rise of 45%). The police and city municipality are not doing enough, and let's not forget that most crimes are not reported as the locals have lost their faith in the authorities. There are hundreds of illegal businesses opened by the infiltrators without any enforcement. Hundreds of apartments belonging to those of means have become a financial waterfall as they are partitioned and rented to infiltrators without any oversight or engineering permits. The public garden in the neighborhood near the Central Bus Station has become a refugee camp and illegal migrants come to Tel Aviv from throughout the country. South Tel Aviv has become the illegal migrant capital of Israel. Previous governments in Israel failed and even enabled tens of thousands of border jumpers to enter the country without any sort of regulation or control. They pleaded indifference and remained idle as large concentrations of immigrant workers amassed in the heart of the country, they even worked to provide them with transport to south Tel Aviv and in an act of immorality, put the burden on the weak shoulders of the local Israelis in those neighborhoods. Areas in southern Tel Aviv are falling under an accelerated process of "occupation," and residents' personal safety is deteriorating. The claim that infiltrators commit their crimes because they don't have jobs is baseless. The majority of them work throughout the city, and their bars in south Tel Aviv are full of life. The majority of them also arrived here with plans to stay. Are the rapes and assaults really a result of unemployment? We are living on a powder keg that edges closer and closer to detonation. The government needs to make a bold move before it is too late. The Israeli government is the sovereign body it is elected by the people and must first and foremost be responsible for its citizenry, and not the courts or any other body both local and abroad. A state of emergency must declared in the southern Tel Aviv neighborhoods. In many places around the world, infiltrators are brought to detention centers, but in Israel many of them enjoy freedom of movement and do as they please. There is nothing left to do but to move the infiltrators to the detention centers built in southern Israel, with unprecedented funds. We cannot resign the residents of south Tel Aviv to their fate. Shlomo Maslawi is a Likud member of the Tel Aviv Municipal Council.
