Settler violence stains Israel’s global reputation and also undermines the many law-abiding Israeli citizens who live in Jewish communities across the West Bank
July 2, 2025 14:31
For Jews living in the West Bank, Friday night is sacred – a time for prayer, family, and rest. It’s the rhythm of Jewish tradition and the weekly pause. That’s why, ahead of Shabbat, the IDF withdrew a unit it had stationed on a hill near the Palestinian village of Kafr Malik. The day before, security forces had demolished an illegally built structure there, and the presence of troops was intended to prevent further provocations.
But then, just as Shabbat began, a group of far-right Jewish activists was spotted climbing the hill once more. Nearby, a reserve battalion from the 7114th Brigade – part of the Binyamin Division responsible for the area around Ramallah – was on duty. When the soldiers, led by their battalion commander, a lieutenant colonel known as G, approached the group, they were violently attacked.
G, who has served over 500 days in reserve duty since October 7, was punched in the face. Other soldiers were choked, their jeeps pelted with rocks, and tires slashed. These were not clashes with Hamas or Islamic Jihad, but assaults carried out by young Jewish extremists. “They threatened us that we would not leave alive,” G later recalled.
It was only because soldiers were attacked that this story made headlines in Israel. Just days earlier, activists – probably the same ones – had rioted in Kafr Malik, torching Palestinian property. In the resulting confrontations – after soldiers were dispatched to control the violence – three Palestinians were killed. That incident barely registered in the public discourse.
The truth is that settler violence has become routine – and dangerously normalised. According to Neomi Neumann, former head of the Shin Bet’s research division and now a visiting fellow at The Washington Institute, there’s been a 30 per cent spike in settler violence in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year – rising from 318 incidents to 414. At the same time, the IDF has reported a decline in Palestinian terrorism in the West Bank.
That reversal should worry every Israeli. As Neumann warns, the West Bank has remained a secondary front in the war Israel has been fighting since October 7. But if far-right Jewish violence escalates, that could change quickly – and dramatically. The fragile balance that’s held the West Bank together since the war began may not last much longer.
Security officials attribute the spike in violence to three interrelated causes. The first is the distraction of war. With Israel deeply engaged on multiple fronts – Gaza, the north, and Iran – the West Bank has become a blind spot. Into that vacuum, radical activists have surged, largely unchecked. These are mostly members of the so-called Hilltop Youth: disaffected teenagers, often school dropouts, who live off-grid in illegal outposts and unrecognised farms. Many of them see themselves as modern-day pioneers and reject all conventional authority – government, religious, even familial.
The second reason is political. Key ministers in the current government openly support these activists and their ideology – such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also controls the Civil Administration, which governs civilian life in the West Bank. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, meanwhile, is widely believed to have instructed police to turn a blind eye to settler violence. An outgoing prison warden even claimed this week that Ben-Gvir ordered him to grant special benefits to Jewish terrorists in Israeli jails.
This isn’t theoretical. Just months ago, Smotrich and Minister Orit Strock stood on camera and handed out off-road vehicles, night-vision goggles, and other “security equipment” to unauthorised outposts in the South Hebron Hills. The cost: 75 million shekels in state funds.
This sends a message: not only is the government tolerant of settler violence – it is, in some cases, enabling it.
The third cause is ideological. Backed by political cover and operating without consequence, these activists feel empowered to carry out what they see as a historic mission. While their farms and encampments may appear rustic or even harmless, the underlying goal is strategic: to entrench Jewish presence across the West Bank and push Palestinians out. This is not merely a fringe movement with a few violent outliers. It is part of a coordinated effort to establish irreversible facts on the ground that would prevent the future establishment of a Palestinian state.
The consequences of this neglect are profound. Settler violence not only stains Israel’s global reputation; it also undermines the hundreds of thousands of law-abiding Israeli citizens who live in Jewish communities across the West Bank and want nothing to do with these radicals. They, too, suffer from the blanket label of “settler violence” and the international backlash it provokes.
Israel’s focus in the past two years has understandably been on existential threats: from Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iran. But while the country has looked outward, it has failed to confront a threat from within. The state can no longer afford to turn away from what is happening in its own backyard.
It’s time to speak plainly: these violent extremists are not wayward youth. They are homegrown terrorists. They must be arrested, prosecuted, and – if necessary – met with force. The IDF cannot be attacked by the very people it is risking lives to protect. The rule of law must apply equally – whether the threat comes from Jenin, Rafah, or a hilltop outpost near Ramallah.
Israel’s moral clarity has always been one of its greatest strengths. It cannot afford to lose it now. The state was not founded to enable anarchy. It was built on the promise of justice, order, and responsibility. That promise is now being tested – not only by our enemies, but by those who claim to act in our name.
Yaakov Katz is an American-born Israeli journalist, author of four books on the Israeli military, and the former Editor-in-Chief of The Jerusalem Post.
