Israel promoted an Arab police officer to deputy commissioner, the highest rank obtained by a Muslim in the nation.
Jamal Hakrush will be in charge of improving the policing services in Arab neighborhoods and towns in Israel.
He will be responsible for establishing police stations in new Arab towns while strengthening the existing stations.
Israeli Arabs make up roughly a quarter of the country’s population.
Internal security minister Gilad Erdan presented the officer with his rank, calling it a historic occasion.
“If we are honest with ourselves and I refer to all the governments in Israel through the generations, from Ben Gurion until this historic day, we cannot look the Arab society in Israel with the violence and crime in its midst, with a clear conscience,” Erdan said. “Until this day we have not provided the Arab sector with equal law enforcement capabilities.”
Hakrush, 59, is from the Galilee village of Kafr Kanna and joined the police in 1978. He was previously in charge of police stations in three Israeli cities and deputy commander of the coastal region.
In addition to the new and improved stations, Israel promised to commission hundreds of new Arab police officers.