Israel’s police commissioner Roni Alsheich on Wednesday created a furore after suggesting that it was “natural” for police officers to suspect Ethiopian-Israelis and Arabs of being involved in more criminal activities than other Jews, The Guardian reported. Alsheich’s remarks came after he was asked about allegations of police violence against Ethiopian Jews in the country.

The police chief said research conducted around the world had proven that “young people and immigrants” were more involved in crime than other groups. He added that if a police officer “met a suspect” from a particular community “more involved in crime”, it was “natural” for the officer to suspect that person “more than if he was someone else”.

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Alsheich’s remarks were heavily criticised by figures from the Ethiopian-Israeli community. The head of a group that highlights police abuses accused him of “effectively calling [Ethiopians] a criminal community”. Another activist, Gadi Yevarkan, said Alsheich was “openly” calling Israel a “racist country”. However, the Israeli Police defended its chief, saying he had not intended to offend anybody with his remarks. Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan also justified the comments and said Alsheich had not defended the “over-policing” or racial profiling of Ethiopian-Israelis.

The controversy comes amid the heightened scrutiny into institutional racism against the Ethiopian-Jewish community in Israel, with community members holding protests against the alleged over-policing and profiling they face. Last year, a video was released showing police assaulting an Ethiopian-Israeli soldier in a reportedly unprovoked attack. In June, Ethiopian-Israeli actor Tahunia Rubel called Israel “one of the most racist countries in the world” following racist remarks against her broadcast by a reality television show.