For the Love of Israel, Netanyahu Must End ‘Settler Violence’
I have written a series of articles defending Israel against accusations of genocide, apartheid, colonialism, and collective punishment. I stand by every one of them. Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and the Iranian regime that finances and arms them.
Links to my articles can be found at the end.
But there is one issue that Israel must end.
Settler violence.
This is not because it defines Israel. It does not.
Nor is it because Palestinian violence in the West Bank has disappeared. It has not. Israelis continue to face shootings, stabbings, car-ramming attacks, and other acts of terrorism. The Israeli military has a responsibility to stop those attacks and protect Israeli lives.
But Israel also has a responsibility to uphold the rule of law when Israeli citizens commit crimes against Palestinians.
That responsibility cannot be ignored.
One of the greatest strengths of those of us who defend Israel is that we insist Israel is different. Israel is a democracy governed by laws. It is held to a higher standard because it holds itself to a higher standard.
Extremist settlers who assault Palestinians, destroy property, intimidate families, or vandalize villages are not defending Israel. They are damaging Israel’s security, its reputation, and its future.
Every attack becomes another recruiting poster for Hamas, another fundraising appeal for the DSA, another social media video viewed millions of times, and another obstacle for those of us trying to explain Israel’s legitimate security concerns.
We spend countless hours correcting false accusations against Israel. Then a handful of violent settlers provide Israel’s critics with real images that overwhelm those arguments.
That has to stop.
This is not a policy problem. It is an enforcement problem.
Israel already has laws against assault, vandalism, arson, intimidation, and terrorism. Those laws should be enforced regardless of who commits the crime.
Anyone engaging in settler violence should be arrested promptly, prosecuted fairly, and detained pending trial. Once it becomes clear that violent acts carry immediate consequences, the perception of impunity will disappear, and so will much of the violence.
Violence by Palestinians must be handled by the IDF and law enforcement, not by vigilante settlers. Israel is a nation of laws, and only the state should exercise force.
Palestinian rights must also be respected. Let us bring this cycle of hatred to an end.
This is not anti-Israel.
It is profoundly pro-Israel.
Friends do not strengthen Israel by pretending problems do not exist. Friends strengthen Israel by expecting it to live up to its own highest ideals.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bears responsibility here. He sets national priorities. If his government made the immediate enforcement of existing laws against settler violence a clear priority, it would send an unmistakable message throughout Judea and Samaria, the West Bank, that this conduct will no longer be tolerated.
Whatever Netanyahu’s intentions, too many people, both inside and outside Israel, have concluded that his government has tolerated extremist settler violence for far too long.
I believe that perception is fair.
Perception shapes public opinion, and the reality confirms the perception. Public opinion shapes Israel’s diplomatic position. This local violence fuels antisemitism worldwide, and Jews everywhere are paying the price.
Jews around the world are facing rising antisemitism, harassment, discrimination, and, in some cases, deadly violence.
For most of my seventy years, Jews and Israel enjoyed broad respect throughout much of the democratic world. That has changed dramatically.
As a student at Rutgers, I never thought twice about sharing that I was Jewish. Jewish students and their parents today live in fear on many campuses. Settler violence is not the sole cause, but it supplies Israel’s enemies with images they use to incite hatred against Israel and Jews everywhere.
Read my other articles. I believe I can successfully defend Israel against the overwhelming majority of accusations made by its critics.
I cannot defend settler violence.
No one should try.
On this issue, I am calling upon Prime Minister Netanyahu to enforce the law immediately and end the violence. He must make a clear public appeal to the settlers: Stop the vigilantism. Let the IDF and law enforcement protect Israel and its citizens.
If you agree, write to Prime Minister Netanyahu. Tell him that ending settler violence is not a concession to Israel’s enemies. It is a reaffirmation of Israel’s values.
Also share this article.
Israel should not be paying this price.
I recently wrote that Rahm Emanuel’s regional proposal deserved a serious hearing because it offered a vision of a peaceful and prosperous Israel integrated into the Middle East. Whether one agrees with Rahm’s proposal or not, one point is undeniable: Israel’s international position becomes much stronger when it demonstrates that it applies the rule of law equally.
Israel’s enemies will continue lying.
They will continue calling Israel genocidal, colonial, and apartheid regardless of what Israel does.
Nothing Israel does will satisfy Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, or the Iranian regime.
But the audience that matters is everyone else.
The millions of fair-minded people who are still willing to listen.
Those are the people Israel must persuade.
Israel persuades them not only through military strength, technological innovation, and democratic values, but also by showing that no one is above the law.
Israel cannot control the propaganda of its enemies.
It can control its own conduct.
Israel has to be squeaky clean.
Doing so will not silence every critic.
But it will deprive many of them of their strongest arguments and make it easier for Israel’s friends around the world to defend the country they believe in.
Here is where you can find my other articles:
