77 Days to Elections:  Addressing Settler Violence

In the runup to the elections here in just 77 days, there is a lot of talk on the street about what we would expect a new government to do about issues related to our interfacing with the Arab community here.   These generally fall into one of three categories of concern: (1) The high level of violence in the Israeli Arab sector about which I have written previously; (2) Concern about the possibility of a new intifada generating in the Palestinian controlled West Bank; and (3) Israeli settler violence against the Palestinian population in the West Bank or Judea and Samaria, the traditional biblical names for the region.

While all are of concern, the issue of settler violence seems to be more contentious than the other two.  For example, violence in the Arab sector in Israel is simply a fact.  There is a murder there on the average of once a day (see my earlier blog on this at https://tinyurl.com/5e7ct82n) so the problem is well known.  A new intifada emerging from the West Bank?  This is not a given but it is generally acknowledged that there is a large illegal buildup of weaponry going on that concerns the authorities here.

However, on the issue of settler violence, there are a lot of conflicting opinions as to whether this is caused by just a few stray Jewish zealots or whether it is more of an endemic problem exacerbated by the close proximity of certain Palestinian enclaves to Jewish settlements.  Further, if it is a problem, how best to address it?

On this issue, an article in the online Times of Israel yesterday, told a disturbing story of video documented settler violence against Palestinian Arabs with a group of settlers even blocking a local family’s ability to enter or exit their own home.

According to the report, and substantiated by disturbing video as well, since Sunday settlers have been surrounding the home of Youssef Hassan, the head of a Palestinian family of four on the outskirts of the village of Qusra, south of Nablus, preventing the family from entering or leaving.

A makeshift structure was built by the settlers in front of the entrance to the home and the electricity lines into the house have also been cut. The homeowner, who has lived there for the past five years, indicated that the harassment began about seven months ago but was ramped up dramatically over the last week.

Even more disturbing, IDF soldiers were filmed Sunday arriving at the structure erected by the settlers and praying with them. According to Hassan, the soldiers then left without arresting or removing the settlers.

According to the news report, last month, settlers surrounded a home in the nearby village of Jalud for more than two weeks, after which the family living there fled, the settlers took over the property and remain there to this day preventing the return of the owners.

Sympathetic Israelis and some of our supporters abroad can make light of the issue, but for those experiencing daily harassment at the hands of even a small segment of the settler population, the fear is real and present.  Sadly, the situation is compounded by the fact that the level of prosecution of those settlers who do break the law is abysmally low

According to reports by public broadcaster Kan, citing Israeli government security establishment figures, the number of serious incidents of “nationalistic crime” committed by extremist Jewish settlers in the West Bank surged by 63 percent during the first half of this year compared to the same period last year, from 405 attacks to 660 attacks in the corresponding periods.

Palestinian casualties from settler violence climbed sharply as well, with 140 Palestinians wounded and six killed during the first half of the year, compared with 82 wounded and none killed during the same period last year.

There is no doubt that such incidents increased dramatically after the events of October 7^th, which, while perhaps expected, does not make such behavior any more acceptable.

Given all of this, there is no question that the issue of settler violence is real, that the current security establishment does not seem serious about addressing it, making it virtually impossible to control under the current government in power.

While there may be little that can be done before the elections, every candidate who is serious about wanting to be considered as a potential prime minister should offer the voting public a plan to deal with this if and when elected.  Of course, there is never a guarantee that any candidate will actually make good on promises made during the electioneering that precedes the vote.  Nevertheless, it will then be our job, as concerned citizens, to hold the winners accountable on this and any other promise made during the campaign.  Both we and they need to take this obligation seriously.

Carthago substituenda est!