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Suspecting Ethiopians and Arabs of crimes is “natural”, Israel’s most senior police officer said, sparking a backlash from critics.

Immigrants and young people are disproportionately involved in crimes, Roni Alsheich, Israel’s police commissioner said during a conference with reporters, before pointing the finger at Israel’s Ethiopian Jewish community.

Responding to a question regarding allegations of Israeli police violence against Ethiopians, Alsheich said “in all criminological studies around the world it is proven that immigrants are more involved in crime than others, and this should not surprise us.

“In addition, all studies prove that young people are more involved in crime. When these two things converge, a situation is created in which a particular community is involved in crime.

“This was the case in all the waves of immigration [to Israel]. When there is a community that is more involved in crime – also with regard to Arabs or East Jerusalem, and the statistics are known – when a police officer meets a suspect, naturally enough his mind suspects him more than if he were someone else. That is natural.”

Naturally, the controversial comments were not received well, with many accusing the officer of approving racism.

Head of Tebeka, a group that works to highlight police abuses in Israel, Fentahun Assefa-Dawit demanded an apology while stating Alscheich was “effectively calling [Ethiopians] a criminal community, giving legitimacy and a seal of approval to the racist behaviour of the police against Ethiopian Israelis and other groups”.

Israel’s opposition leader, Isaac Herzog also weighed in on the criticism, calling on Alschiech to “correct and clarify his statements, because it’s intolerable that anyone understand that it’s legitimate to place Ethiopian or Arab citizens under heavier scrutiny”.

A statement issued by Israel’s police service admitted racial profiling against the Ethiopian community, while noting “the police commissioner had no intention to offend Ethiopian Israelis.”

Rights groups and activists consistently accuse Israel of institutional racism against its African and Arab population.

The most obvious evidence of this is the injection of Ethiopian women with long-term birth control shots – dubbed ‘genocide injections’ - which has resulted in the reduction of the Ethiopian birth rate in the country.