Residents in the southern Israel Bedouin Arab town of Rahat are expressing grave concerns over the influx of some 4,000 Palestinian Arabs in recent years, reported Ha'aretz.
The Palestinians, who reside in the Israeli town illegally, are prone to theft and other petty crime, and locals fear one may turn out to be a terrorist and tarnish the town and the entire Israeli Bedouin community.
"One of the illegal residents could plan a terror attack, and from here he could reach any place in the country," Rahat Mayor Talal al-Karnawi told the newspaper.
The mayor stressed that many of the Palestinians are just there to provide for their families, but that even they, because of their numbers, have taken over commerce in Rahat and put many locals out of work.