Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan is planning to boost the number of Arabs serving in the police force in an initiative modelled on community policing methods in the UK.

Mr Erdan, who also holds the strategic affairs and information portfolios in the Israeli government, told reporters in London this week that Arabs made up only two per cent of the Israeli police force, and increasing this number would build trust between communities.

“This is my biggest plan,” said Mr Erdan, adding that he had come to London to “see how it’s done here”.

He said he had heard about the benefits of UK-style “foot patrols” in a meeting with London police chief Bernard Hogan-Howe.

Community policing – also known as “neighbourhood policing” - is designed to promote confidence in local forces by employing officers from the social groups they serve and increasing contact-time with the public in defined areas.

Mr Erdan said he had also discussed ways to deal with online hate with Baroness Shields, the Minister for Internet Safety.

The Israeli minister, who in July accused Facebook of having “blood on its hands” for facilitating incitement among Palestinians, said his goal was to “put the burden on Facebook to remove such content”.

He pointed to legislation in France as the best response he had seen to the problem.

“In France the law makes the web platforms responsible,” he said, adding that “incitement on the web needs to be dealt with like child abuse”.

Mr Erdan, a member of Likud, came second in his party’s primaries in 2014 and is tipped as a potential future prime minister of Israel.