Jewish settlers in the West Bank are committing blasphemous acts of violence

This was the live update that I received in my inbox last Thursday, August 15^th, from The Times of Israel:

Roughly 50 masked Israeli settlers have invaded the Palestinian village of Jit, torching at least four homes and six vehicles, an Israeli security official tells The Times of Israel.

Following the publication of photos from the attack in the northern West Bank village, Labor party chairman Yair Golan tweets: “Messianic Jewish terrorism is determined to ignite the territory and force a difficult and unnecessary regional campaign on Israel.”

As is almost always the case in such incidents of settler violence, there are no reports of any arrests.

As the news broke about this horrible event, which the president of Israel, Yitzhak Herzog, condemned as a pogrom, more and more condemnations came in from across parts of the political spectrum in Israel, except for the far-right, which supports and encourages these terrible attacks on innocent Palestinians, even though they are detrimental to their reputation (which is pretty bad in Israel and around the world anyway, so why would they care?).

As shocking as this latest attack of violence by settlers in the West Bank against innocent Palestinians was last week, it is unfortunately nothing new around here. On the contrary, it has been going on for many years, with the security services (the army, police, border patrol and others) usually turning a blind eye and arrests of the perpetrators rarely made.  The incitement to hatred by settler rabbis and other leaders (some of whom are now unbelievably in the government of Israel) has been well documented in the media in Israel and abroad for a long time.

Yet, since the formation of the new extreme right-wing government in Israel (December 29, 2022) — orchestrated by Bibi Netanyahu, as the only way he could regain power — not only has this phenomenon of settler violence increased, but it appears to be part of the implicit government policies of creeping annexation, attempts to scare and expel local Palestinians, more and more home demolitions and much more.  The fact that Bibi appointed the veteran anarchist, hooligan and convicted troublemaker Itamar Ben Gvir as Minister of National Security (Police) was a catalyst for giving the green light for the “hilltop youth” (Ben Gvir’s base of support in his political party known as Jewish Power) to run wild!  And then, following the events of October 7^th, 2023, Ben Gvir distributed large numbers of guns to these people (and others) through quickie licensing procedures (which was probably illegal, but what does he care, since he is now the sheriff in the Wild West and he makes the laws now!).

In addition, Bibi appointment Betzalel Smotrich—another well known hooligan and right-wing settler extremist—to the position of Minister in charge of the occupied territories (within the Defense Ministry), , as well as Minister of Finance. Two totally irresponsible political appointments, which have wreaked havoc not only on the Israeli economy while they boost the settlement enterprise, but which have raised the profile of this fanatic politician to a central player in Bibi’s super-nationalist and super-“religious” coalition. Like his pal Ben Gvir, Smotrich comes from the base of settler extremism and is one of the leaders of the pack who support continual violence against Palestine, towards the twin goals of expulsion and annexation.

Settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem–by so-called “hilltop youth” and anarchists and other ideologues—is now fully condoned and tacitly approved by the government of Israel, despite occasional protestations to the contrary.  It is angering civilized leaders around the world, including the president of the United States, and European governments are beginning to impose sanctions on these people.

This is, of course, is also a moral issue, a stain on Israeli Judaism, and Israeli society as a whole. There has developed within Israel a deeply distorted version of Judaism now known as “Religious Zionism” (the official name of the political party which is headed by Smotrich). These people may be observant Jews but they are certainly not religious ones. They have no moral compass. They violate every day the basic tenets of Judaism of treating the stranger fairly and decently. They have no respect for “others”, only for themselves. They don’t love others as they do themselves. Their violent and hate-filled form of Judaism is not the Judaism of most Jews in the Jewish state, but they are now some of the leading representatives of this strange mutation of Judaism in the government of Israel.

Many years ago, I was one of the founders of a group called The Tag Meir Forum (The Light Tag Forum), which continues to function today. This is a pluralistic coalition of Modern Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Secular, Traditional and Cultural Jews in Israel, who represent a sane and sensitive Judaism, vastly different than the one espoused by Ben Gvir, Smotrich, their “settler youth” or “hilltop youth” (who mostly live in illegal outposts which should have been removed long ago). To this day, members of the Tag Meir Forum are constantly making “solidarity visits” to families of Palestinians who have been hurt by these extremists, who are now mostly beyond the law in Israel since the lawless are now in charge of the law).

In a statement released yesterday, Forum Tag Meir said:

Enough is Enough. The Prime Minister, who appointed a convicted terrorist as the Minister of National Security and another criminal as the minister responsible for the West Bank and who approved Ben-Gvir’s ascent to the Temple Mount on Tish B’av, is directly responsible for the deadly pogrom carried out last week against innocent Palestinians by masked, hate-driven Jews, as well as the brutal lynching of Israeli Arab women. Prime Minister Netanyahu must dismiss Ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich today if he truly condemns the horrific acts committed, as he claims.

While unfortunately this is not likely to happen, I fully agree with content of this statement.

Since this is a moral issue par excellence, it is time for rabbis in Israel and abroad, to loudly and clearly proclaim that this is chilul Hashem—taking God’s name in vain, blasphemy. It is not only politically wrong. It is the antithesis of authentic Judaism. The actions of these people need to be emphatically rejected and repudiated. Their Judaism is certainly not my Judaism; nor does it represent the religion of most of the Jews of Israel.