(JNS) Israel’s Cabinet has approved the allocation of 150 million shekel/$45 million to combat crime in the country’s Arab sector, according to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office.

The money will go toward building and expanding five new and existing police stations, two fire stations and multi-purpose buildings for community services in Arab communities, and establishing a special Israel Police unit dedicated to fighting crime.

Also included in the plan is the allocation of approximately 1 million shekels from the budget of the Prime Minister’s Office for an information campaign against violence in the sector. A professional team will work to advance plans to deal with domestic violence, and additional actions will be taken to strengthen Arab society and social-community frameworks for dealing with crime and violence.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other government officials also met with local Arab leaders to address the sector’s high COVID-19 morbidity and ask for their help in dispelling false rumors about the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

He requested that medical officials present information “in Hebrew and Arabic, and every way to the public, to the Muslim, Christian, Bedouin, Circassian and Druze publics. Everyone needs to understand this: The virus does not distinguish between us. It does not distinguish between any one of us.”

Calling the COVID-19 vaccines “a blessing for humanity,” he emphasized that “we have a vaccine for every Israeli citizen, everyone, without exception.”