A Liberal Zionist’s Lament on the Fires Between Nablus and Tulkarem

As a liberal Zionist sitting here in the U.S.—someone who loves Israel not just as an idea but as a living, imperfect democracy—I watched the news from the West Bank today with a sense of heartbreak and fury.

Dozens of settlers launched a large-scale arson attack between Nablus and Tulkarem, torching Palestinian farmland, trucks, and even a small factory. Four Palestinians were injured. But this time, the violence didn’t stop there: reports say settlers also turned their aggression on IDF soldiers who tried to intervene.

That’s not “clashes.” That’s not “tension.” That’s chaos—directed at civilians and at the very army sworn to defend the State of Israel. It crosses a red line that no decent human being—no Zionist, no Jew, no Israeli—should ever tolerate.

And yet, for too many, the condemnations come slowly, if at all.

The IDF and police did arrest several settlers suspected of involvement. That matters. But accountability for a handful of attackers will mean nothing if Israeli society—especially within the settler movement itself—doesn’t start confronting the culture of impunity and moral blindness that fuels this violence.

Zionism Without Ethics Is Just Power

To me, Zionism has always meant the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in our ancestral land—without denying that same right to others. But that moral foundation collapses the moment settlers set fire to another family’s field, or assault IDF soldiers doing their duty.

If you raise your hand against civilians or soldiers in the name of Israel, you are not defending Israel—you are desecrating it, yet these extremists claim to represent Zionism. They don’t. They represent something much darker: a messianic nationalism that believes the law, the government, and even the army are obstacles to divine entitlement. That’s not patriotism. It’s anarchy draped in religion.

If Zionism loses its ethical core—if it becomes only about who wields power—it will devour itself from within.

The Arrests Are Welcome—But They Must Be a Beginning

The IDF and police deserve credit for acting swiftly. Arresting settlers—especially in high-tension areas like this—isn’t politically easy. It takes courage. But those arrests can’t be a headline and then a footnote. They must mark the start of a consistent policy: violence is violence, whether it’s Palestinian or Jewish, whether it targets soldiers or civilians.

Israel’s credibility as both a democracy and a Jewish state depends on that principle. If the state cannot enforce the law equally, it cannot call itself democratic. If it excuses brutality in the name of God, it cannot call itself Jewish.

A Red Line for All Who Call Themselves Zionists

Even within the settler movement—especially within it—this must be a moment of reckoning.

If you truly believe the land is sacred, you do not desecrate it with fire.

If you claim to love Israel, you do not attack its soldiers.

Settler leaders, rabbis, and community elders should be the first to condemn this attack unequivocally. They should call it what it is: a moral disgrace and a strategic disaster. Because when settlers assault the IDF, they are not defending Israel’s future—they are helping to unravel it.

This is not a left-right issue. It’s a right-wrong issue. And if settler communities can’t make that distinction, then they’ve lost sight of everything they claim to stand for.

Silence Is Complicity

There’s a deadly silence that creeps in after every one of these attacks. Too many politicians issue bland statements about “unfortunate incidents.” Too many religious figures avoid naming the sin because the sinners wear kippot. Too many of us abroad stay quiet because we’re afraid of “giving ammunition” to Israel’s critics.

Enough.

If you love Israel, you don’t stay silent when extremists burn it from within. You don’t excuse violence because it comes wrapped in your flag. Silence is complicity.

As a liberal Zionist, I want to believe that Israel can still be a beacon—a Jewish democracy guided by both chesed and tzedek. But that belief dies a little every time I see fire lighting up the hills of Samaria and silence echoing in the Knesset halls.

For the Sake of Israel’s Soul

This is the moment to choose: between decency and denial, between moral clarity and national decay.

We can’t keep pretending that violent settlers are “fringe actors.” When they torch fields, attack soldiers, and sow fear, they’re attacking the very foundations of the state they claim to serve. They’re spitting in the face of every Israeli who believes in democracy, every Jew who believes in justice, and every Palestinian who still dares to believe coexistence is possible.

The arrests are a start—but justice isn’t complete until there’s accountability, until there’s leadership in the settler community that says no more, and until communities themselves reject the poison of extremism.

Coexistence or Catastrophe

The events today (Tuesday) between Nablus and Tulkarem are not just about burned land. It’s about burned trust. If Israel’s future is to be one of peace, coexistence, and security, then this kind of violence must become unthinkable—not just illegal, but unthinkable.

Those of us who still believe in a just, democratic, and Jewish Israel must speak up—again and again—until this kind of madness is no longer tolerated. Because if we don’t, the flames consuming olive trees today will consume something far greater tomorrow: the soul of Israel itself.