PM calls for meeting to help find way to fight crime in Lod

Netanyahu's effort to clamp down on city's notorious criminal elements comes after the murder of two residents within 48 hours, one outside city hall.

By BEN HARTMAN
crime scene (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [illustrative])
crime scene
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [illustrative])
Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday evening announced that in the coming days his office will hold a special meeting where he and the relevant ministers and security officials will discuss ways to fight crime in Lod.
Netanyahu's bureau said the meeting will be held to find ways "to return the sense of security to the residents [of Lod]."
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Also Tuesday night, Netanyahu spoke to Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharanovitch, and asked for a detailed presentation of the situation on the ground in Lod.
Late on Monday, the second Lod resident to be gunned down in the central Israel city in the past two days was killed while sitting in her vehicle.
Police said the victim, a 27-year-old woman named Emil Halili, was sitting in her car on the city's Helen Keller street when she was shot and killed by unknown assailants. Paramedics rushed to the scene and found the woman unconscious and in critical condition, along with her wounded 8-year-old child sitting in the car beside her.
Rescue personnel attempted to save the Halili's life, but were forced to pronounce her dead at the scene. Her daughter was taken to Asaf Harofeh hospital to be treated for injuries sustained from flying fragments of glass from the car windows dispersed by gunfire during the attack.
Following the first reports of gunfire, large numbers of police swarmed to the area to begin searching for the assailant, who has not been caught. Police stated they still do not know the motive behind the shooting.  
On Sunday evening, a 41-year-old Lod resident was shot to death while sitting in his car early outside Lod's city hall on Hashmonaim Street. Police suspect that the motive for the shooting was criminal, but the victim, Sami Hijazi, has no known criminal record.
Located only about 15 km. southeast of Tel Aviv, Lod and its sister city Ramle have suffered from high levels of poverty, crime and drug abuse for years, and municipal leaders have launched numerous efforts to change the image and quality of both cities.