Surprising Cross-Border Arab-Israeli Drug Connection Exposed

Palestinian dealers from the hostile village of Hawara have been found selling drugs to neighbouring Israeli settlers, according to local media.

Police in Judea and Samaria in the West Bank uncovered the cross-border drug connection after a complex narcotics investigation, Israeli News reported.

Police detained several Arabs, including terror operatives, on drug-dealing suspicions. The police were then surprised to discover that the dealers' client list included settlers from Israeli settlements such as Itamar, Har Bracha and Yitzhar, which are all predominately Orthodox Jewish communities.

Four Jewish clients were also arrested as part of the investigation.

The Arab-Jewish drug connection was especially unexpected in the village of Hawara, a volatile area in which there have been frequent clashes with nearby settlers.

A checkpoint was set up at Hawara in 2000 to stop explosive belts and other weapons from being smuggled into Israel for use in terror attacks.

The checkpoint has become infamous over the years as a site of trouble. In September 2008, an Israeli soldier was blinded in one eye when a Palestinian woman threw acid in his face while he was manning the checkpoint.

Israeli motorists have also been stoned in the village on several occasions and the village itself was targeted as part of the settlers' "price tag" operations, a policy of random acts of violence aimed at the Palestinian population and Israeli security forces.

"This is actually encouraging," Itamar resident Aviel told Israeli News "You can see that there are no drug dealers around here and even the people who do drugs occasionally are forced to buy from Arabs. Of course, we would prefer not to see such phenomena here at all."