An Israeli mafia boss has been shot dead in public at point-blank range.
Yanis Yushvaev, 40, was killed as he left a petrol station near Caesarea.
The married father of three was considered one of Israel’s most dangerous criminals, with his death coming as the country grapples with a growing organised crime crisis.
CCTV footage showed the gunman walking up a small flight of steps to a door, as two men came out of it and walked past him. Yushvaev was then seen coming out of the door and walking down the stairs.
After the men had walked past the gunman and were facing the other way, he turned and shot Yushvaev in the back of the head. The mafia boss then tumbled down the stairs as the gunman fled on foot.
Police described Yushvaev as the head of a crime group associated with Israel’s Jewish Caucasus community.
He had evaded conviction for years as police repeatedly failed to gather sufficient evidence despite his own alleged involvement in shootings, grenade attacks and vehicle arson.
Restaurants targeted in crime family feud
There is growing concern that Israel’s underworld wars are spilling into everyday public spaces.
In recent weeks, branches of Japanika, a popular sushi restaurant chain, have been targeted with grenades, gunfire and attempted arson in attacks police have linked to an escalating feud between the Mosli (Jewish) and Jarushi (Arab) crime families.
Thirteen attacks were reported in the space of several days, including gunfire at a restaurant in Herzliya and a suspected grenade attack that caused a fire at a branch in Netanya.
The attacks prompted the US embassy in Jerusalem to issue a security warning to Americans in Israel about the threat from organised crime in Tel Aviv, Jaffa and Herzliya.
Murders are also on the rise. There were 309 murders recorded in Israel in 2025, up from 148 in 2022, an increase of 109%.
Of those killed in 2025, 241 were Arab-Israelis, and 47 were Jewish, according to police figures.
But Yushvaev’s killing stands as a reminder that Israel’s organised crime problem is not confined to its Arab minority.
Much of the blame has fallen on Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, who took responsibility for the police at the end of 2022. He has denied accusations that he is letting the phenomenon spiral by treating the bloodshed as an internal Arab problem.
In a leaked 2023 conversation, Kobi Shabtai, the then police commissioner, was reported as saying of Arab murders: “They are murdering each other. This is their nature. This is the mentality of the Arabs.”
According to a report on Israel’s Channel 12, Mr Ben-Gvir responded that the killings “can be stopped” and that “the murder of both Arabs and Jews must be prevented”.
The violence has become so severe that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, recently declared an “all-out war” against organised crime.
Mr Netanyahu told the Knesset in January that he had called in Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, to tackle the problem “with mighty momentum”, tasking them with strengthening intelligence and operational technology.
The Israeli military had also been brought in to combat weapons smuggling, alongside Shin Bet and the police.
Criminals ‘can live without worries’
However, commentators said such policies have had little effect.
Asher Ben Artzi, the former head of Interpol in Israel, told The Daily Telegraph: “The state and the police have no power any more, no influence. They can’t fight organised crime. They fight, but not efficiently.
“Yushvaev and his kind are real criminals and are smarter than the police. They’re richer than the police, they have better equipment than the police, better intelligence technology, so they can live without any worries,” he added.
“I’m sorry to say it, but this is the situation.”
Artzi also said Ben-Gvir had focused more resources on the West Bank since taking office.
“Another cause in this rise is that Ben-Gvir has also diverted a lot of police to the West Bank to protect the Jewish communities there, which is also weakening the presence in central Israel, where we need them,” he said.
In July, the government approved the diversion of around 500m shekels ($260m) from a programme intended to reduce socioeconomic disparities in Arab communities to the Shin Bet and police. Critics said the move took away money that was supposed to keep young people away from crime.
But this year looks set to be another violent year. By August 6, 160 Arab Israelis had been killed in homicides, slightly above the 156 recorded at the same point last year.
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