In Israel, outrage rises over wartime settler violence in West Bank
| Tel Aviv, Israel
In the middle of the war, as missiles from Iran and Lebanon were raining down on Israel and fighter jets were striking Tehran, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the Israel Defense Forces鈥� chief of staff, visited the West Bank to issue a warning over a surge of settler violence against Palestinians.
Speaking to Israeli military officers, General Zamir鈥檚 wording was both strong and guarded at the same time. He did not refer explicitly to 鈥渟ettlers鈥� as the perpetrators or to 鈥淧alestinians鈥� as the victims. But he did say the offenders are a 鈥渢hreatening minority from within鈥� who endanger Israel鈥檚 security as well as its values.
鈥淚n recent months, there has been an increase in nationalist crime incidents, some of which are directed against our troops and toward civilian populations,鈥� he said last week in a statement.
Why We Wrote This
Under cover of the Iran war, settler extremists have increased violent attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank. A range of Israeli leaders, from rabbis and former diplomats to Benjamin Netanyahu鈥檚 hand-picked military chief of staff, are raising their voices in condemnation.
鈥淚t is unacceptable that during a multifront war the IDF is also forced to confront a threatening minority from within. These are rioters who do not represent the greater population,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n reality, they endanger residents, security, stability, and our values as a people and as a state.鈥�
According to Israeli rights group Yesh Din, of settler violence or harassment against Palestinians were reported across the West Bank in the first 25 days after the Israel鈥檚 Feb. 28 attack on Iran. The incidents, spanning 116 Palestinian communities, included shootings, physical assaults, property damage, and threats.
Six Palestinians were shot and killed by settlers during that period, Yesh Din says, adding that to the best of its knowledge, none of the suspected shooters have been arrested.
Coalition tensions
General Zamir assumed command of Israel鈥檚 military a year ago after being hand-picked as a loyalist by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Yet his remarks suggest an increase of tensions with the more extreme members of Mr. Netanyahu鈥檚 coalition, with whom the military chief has already clashed over Gaza policies.
Indeed, the general called on Israeli authorities to take action against the settler violence and 鈥渟top it before it is too late,鈥� effectively pointing a finger at the Israeli police, the Shin Bet security service, and the coalition itself. Two key far-right ministers are themselves settlers: Itamar Ben-Gvir, a longtime provocateur turned minister of national security, in charge of Israel鈥檚 national police; and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is also tasked with overseeing settlements and the West Bank.
The surge in Jewish-extremist violence is testing the country鈥檚 rule of law, straining its security forces, and exposing divisions within Israel over how 鈥� or whether 鈥� to confront it. And the warning from General Zamir underscores growing concern in the military that such attacks could ignite further instability, even as election-year politics limit the government鈥檚 response.
General Zamir made his 鈥渧ery important鈥� statement because there was 鈥渘o way to ignore鈥� events in the West Bank, says Yohanan Tzoreff, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.
General Zamir鈥檚 words were guarded, Mr. Tzoreff adds, because in the middle of a multifront war 鈥� with Iran, in Lebanon, and still in Gaza 鈥� he is seeking to avoid open confrontation with influential ministers in the coalition for whom expanding Jewish settlement in the West Bank is a primary goal.
鈥淐an you expect him to speak more clearly? ... I鈥檓 sure he wants to ... but he cannot,鈥� says Mr. Tzoreff.
The violence continued last weekend. Rioters entered Palestinian villages overnight on Saturday, throwing stones and setting fire to homes and vehicles, after a settler was fatally struck by a Palestinian vehicle in Beit Imrin, an area where Israelis are prohibited from entering. Investigators are trying to determine whether it was an attack, as quickly claimed by some right-wing politicians, or an accident.
At the settler鈥檚 funeral, Mr. Smotrich he was working toward the 鈥渃ollapse鈥� of the governing Palestinian Authority and to assert control over the West Bank.
According to Yonatan Kanonich, the head of research at Yesh Din, the Netanyahu government wants to annex as much of the West Bank with as few Palestinians as possible, and the aim of the settler violence is to achieve this by forcing Palestinians from their homes.
鈥淚srael is enjoying the fruits of this settler violence,鈥� he says.
Increase in fatalities
Over the past three years, the number of people taking part in the riots 鈥� often 鈥渉undreds of people together鈥� 鈥� as well as the number of weapons used, has surged, Mr. Kanonich says. That鈥檚 because 鈥淚srael handed out a lot of arms, mainly to settlers, following Oct. 7,鈥� he says, referring to the deadly 2023 Hamas attack that triggered the Gaza war.
Since the start of the war with Iran, as global attention was diverted, there has also been a 鈥渄ramatic rise in the number of dead,鈥� he says. 鈥淪ix Palestinians were killed by settlers in the first two weeks of the war; that is a crazy number.鈥�
General Zamir鈥檚 decision to visit the West Bank during a war with Iran and Hezbollah was itself a 鈥渂old statement,鈥� said a military official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The solution to the violence, the official added, will require coordinated action between the army, police, political leadership, and local community figures who need to speak out strongly.
The recent violence has been so extreme that it has drawn condemnation from opposition of the Knesset and other , as well as from rabbis, former security heads, educators, and in a signed statement by more than 100 former ambassadors and senior Foreign Ministry officials.
In a on social platform X, Rabbi Yehuda Gilad, who heads a Modern Orthodox yeshiva, described a firsthand account from a young Palestinian in the Bedouin village of Khirbet Humsa, where a 鈥減ogrom鈥� had taken place. The West Bank village is a 30-minute drive from his Yeshivat Ma鈥檃le Gilboa in northern Israel. 鈥淎las, what has become of us?鈥� he posted.
The violence in the West Bank is 鈥渁 desecration of God鈥檚 name and a distortion of the Torah,鈥� he told the Monitor in a phone interview.
Most settlement rabbis oppose such violence, as do most settlers, Rabbi Gilad says. 鈥淏ut there is a group of some extreme rabbis that don鈥檛. And these violent people don鈥檛 even ask the rabbis, they do what they want.
鈥淚n each society, there are those committing illegal acts, and the police must clamp down on them,鈥� he adds, but Mr. Ben-Gvir, the minister of police, 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 really care.鈥�
Averting eyes
The public, meanwhile, still reeling from Oct. 7 and now dealing with missiles launched by Iran and Hezbollah, prefers to look elsewhere rather than confront what is happening in the West Bank, where Israel restricts the freedom of millions of Palestinians, says Yesh Din鈥檚 Mr. Kanonich.
鈥淚f you told any decent Israeli about a policy of a far-off country doing such a thing to so many people, they would be in shock. But when it is our backyard, we prefer to ignore it,鈥� he says.
Is change on the way?
Under pressure from the United States, Mr. Netanyahu convened a security meeting last week to address nationalist crimes in the West Bank and called for action, Kan News reported on聽. The national police said it had arrested seven suspects linked to the violence in Khirbet Humsa.
Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, the head of the IDF鈥檚 Central Command, which is in charge of the West Bank, also issued a stark warning last week about attacks against Palestinian civilians, cautioning they could ignite a new front in the West Bank. He urged public leaders, rabbis, educators, and parents to act and speak out in a 鈥渃lear voice.鈥�
鈥淭his situation cannot continue,鈥� he wrote in an open letter.
General Bluth is 鈥渧ery serious about preventing this expansion of Jewish terrorism,鈥� says Israel Ziv, a retired general. But without clear condemnation from the government, it will be 鈥渧ery hard鈥� for the army to do the job, he adds.
And words alone will not make a difference, only facts on the ground will, analysts and activists say.
That is unlikely in an election year, says Michael Milshtein, head of the Palestinian Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University.
鈥淩ight now, unfortunately, I see no change,鈥� he says. Several months before elections, Mr. Netanyahu won鈥檛 want to be seen as 鈥渟omeone who actually promotes activities against the settlers.鈥�
鈥淭he only thing that can really be a game changer is American pressure on Israel,鈥� Dr. Milshtein says.
