Settlers Violence – A 21st-Century Blood Libel
Introduction: What Is a Blood Libel?
For centuries, long before the destruction of the Jewish communities in the Holocaust, Jews were subjected to systematic persecution through a particularly effective weapon: the blood libel.
The mechanism was simple. Government officials, clergy, and local power brokers circulated rumors that Jews murdered Christian children in order to use their blood for baking matzah for Passover. In some cases, children who had died of disease—or were killed outright—were blamed on Jewish communities. The accusations were absurd on their face: Jewish law strictly forbids the consumption of blood, murder, and any form of cannibalism. Yet facts were irrelevant.
What mattered was impact. These accusations convinced ordinary people that Jews were not merely different, but inherently evil—child killers. That belief legitimized violence. Jewish homes were burned, synagogues destroyed, and Jews were killed by neighbors who had lived alongside them for generations. Trials, when they occurred at all, were largely perfunctory. The libel had already done its work.
Blood libels were not misunderstandings. They were propaganda—narratives designed to dehumanize Jews and justify violence against them.
(For historical background, see the Holocaust Encyclopedia’s overview of blood libels: Blood Libel | Holocaust Encyclopedia)
The Modern Blood Libel
It may sound dramatic to invoke the term “blood libel” today, but the pattern is unmistakable.
One recent example is the “Gaza Genocide” campaign. Despite extensive efforts by the Israel Defense Forces to minimize civilian harm—and despite legal oversight of battlefield decisions—the accusation that Israel engaged in genocide gained enormous global traction. Once Israel was framed as a child-killing state, moral logic followed effortlessly. “Death to the IDF” chants became normalized. Violence against Jews worldwide—from Australia to Washington, D.C.—was justified by people who believed they were avenging Palestinian children.
This narrative succeeded not because it was accurate, but because it was emotionally compelling. Propaganda rarely announces itself as such.
From “Gaza Genocide” to “Settler Violence”
The “Settler Violence” campaign was in full swing before the October 7th war. Israeli left wing organizations received funding from the EU to publicize the phenomenon and challenge the government for aiding and abetting “Settler Violence”.
There is a direct connection between the “Gaza Genocide” campaign and the “Settler Violence” campaign. Both aim to delegitimize parts of the Jewish nation—not only in the eyes of the world, but crucially, in the eyes of other Jews.
Throughout the recent war, discourse around “settler violence” diminished—not because alleged incidents disappeared, but because activist funding and media focus shifted toward the more globally resonant genocide narrative. Now that the war has ended, the “settler violence” narrative has reemerged as a primary front.
The Numbers Behind the Narrative
The “settler violence” narrative gains power from its vagueness. When people hear the term repeatedly, they imagine widespread, systematic attacks. The actual data tells a different story.
A comprehensive 2022 report by Regavim examined UN documentation of alleged settler violence between 2016-2021. The UN claimed 6,285 incidents of “settler violence” against Palestinians. When Regavim investigators examined each incident individually, the findings were striking:
- 20% of incidents did not even occur in Judea and Samaria
- 16% involved no violence whatsoever—they were classified as “violence” simply for Jewish presence on the Temple Mount or clashes with security forces there
- 19% were trespassing complaints with no violent component
Of the 833 incidents actually classified as resulting in bodily harm:
- 48% were categorized as “involvement in clashes” with no indication of who initiated the confrontation
- 14% were clashes with security forces, not Jewish civilians
The actual number of documented incidents of Jews initiating violence against Palestinians: approximately 300 over a six-year period.
[Source: Regavim, “Distortion and Defamation: Unmasking the Myth of Settler Violence,” 2022]
Compare those numbers to the statistics of Palestinian terrorist attacks against civilians in Israel in 2024 when over 6500 terror attacks were carried out in Israel by Arabs, of these, over 1000 attacks that included guns or Molotov cocktails. These resulted in 48 dead and hundreds injured. The scope and danger of the settlers violence is miniscule relative to that of Palestinian terror.
Summary of Terror Attacks in Israel and the West Bank, 2023–2024 | INSS
Why This Matters Within the Jewish Community
The “settler violence” narrative has particular resonance—and particular danger—within Israel itself. While most Israelis instinctively rejected the “Gaza genocide” claims as absurd, far fewer have the direct knowledge to assess whether settler violence is a genuine crisis or an exaggerated one. This creates vulnerability.
The campaign’s effectiveness can be measured by its reach into unexpected quarters. Rav Moshe Lichtenstein, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion—one of religious Zionism’s most prestigious institutions—publicly denounced settler violence as “a moral stain” that “contravenes Torah.” His comments were widely circulated and gave moral authority to the narrative. (https://www.timesofisrael.com/head-of-prestigious-yeshiva-settler-violence-a-moral-stain-contravenes-torah/)
Rav Lichtenstein’s stature is beyond question. His integrity is unimpeachable. That is precisely the point. When even figures of his caliber—living in the very communities being accused—accept the framing of widespread, systematic Jewish violence based on media reports and NGO documentation, it demonstrates how effectively the narrative has been constructed.
This is not a criticism of Rav Lichtenstein’s character. It is an observation about propaganda’s power. Good people, presented with carefully curated evidence and surrounded by seemingly authoritative reporting, reach conclusions that may not reflect the complete picture. The historical parallel is uncomfortable but relevant: in every era, respected voices have been mobilized—however inadvertently—to legitimize claims that later proved to be distortions serving political ends.
How the Narrative Is Manufactured
The mechanics of this campaign are disturbingly consistent. Confrontations are deliberately provoked—often against farmers or shepherds. When Jews attempt to defend themselves, professional videographers positioned nearby capture selective footage. The instigation is omitted; only the response becomes the story.
Edited clips are then distributed globally as proof of Jewish aggression. The goal is twofold: to mobilize legal systems against Jews and to embolden local attackers, confident they will be shielded by broader outrage. As the narrative has gained traction, less and less “proof” is required. As soon as “settler violence” is invoked the reader is already sold and a vague picture of people is enough to spark outrage against the “Settlers”.
Following the Money: Who Funds the “Settler Violence” Narrative?
When trying to understand any sustained political campaign, a useful principle applies: follow the money.
The global focus on “settler violence” is not driven solely by spontaneous, grassroots reporting. It is supported by a network of non-governmental organizations whose explicit mandate is to document and publicize alleged abuses in Judea and Samaria. These organizations are funded by foreign governments and international bodies, often with budgets in the millions of euros.
One example is the EU’s “settler violence” funding program, which provided significant support to NGOs involved in documenting and reporting alleged settler abuses. According to a report by NGO Monitor, EU funding to such NGOs was substantial in 2019, including grants linked to activities described as documenting settler violence (https://ngo-monitor.org/reports/eu-funding-to-ngos-in-2019/). This funding was part of a wider portfolio that included monitoring alleged violations in Judea and Samaria.
Another key example is Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights organization with official consultative status at the United Nations. Al-HaQ has been a central source of documentation cited internationally regarding settler violence and alleged abuses. The organization has received funding from European governments for this work.
Several governments, including the European Commission, suspended funding after intelligence findings linked senior members of the organization to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a group designated as a terrorist organization by the European Union. In response, the European Commission froze funding pending investigation. Al-Haq itself confirmed the funding freeze and described the response on its website (https://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/19424.html). Nonetheless, individual European states continue financial support.
These developments do not require readers to assume fabrication or bad faith. They do, however, raise questions about neutrality, incentives, and accountability. Organizations whose funding depends on documenting ongoing abuses are structurally disincentivized from contextual reporting or de-escalation. In an environment where peace would undercut their raison d’être, their focus remains steadfast. Put bluntly, so long as funding is provided to battle “Settler Violence”, there is guaranteed to be “settler violence”.
More troublingly, when organizations involved in international legal advocacy are found to have links to designated terrorist groups, it raises the question whether the two lines of business, terrorism and human rights advocacy, are simply two sides of the same coin, namely the physical assault on Israel complemented by the political and legal assault on Israel.
This does not invalidate every claim made under the banner of “settler violence.” But it does suggest the need for skepticism. Campaigns built on selective documentation, amplified by global media, and financed by actors with explicit political objectives should not be consumed uncritically—especially when they echo historic patterns of delegitimization that have had deadly consequences for Jews in the past.
The Honest Truth
What is the nature of the settler violence? Is there truth behind the accusations?
Continued violence serves the Palestinian interest both in terms of propaganda as well as the organizations like Al-Haq justifying their funding by producing “the goods” – propaganda that could be leveraged to wage a global war against the Jewish state (similar to the real as well as fabricated footage of the suffering in Gaza which serves the interests of Hamas.) Conversely, violent incidents are detrimental to the Jewish settlement because they delegitimize and dehumanize religious Zionists as a whole and serve as justification for collective punishment on a level that the security forces would not consider towards the Palestinian population.
However, the phenomenon does exist primarily in two forms:
- The settlers whose goal it is to defend Israeli land from illegal Palestinian takeover, challenge this takeover by being present which puts them at the frontier where there is expectedly a good deal of friction. Violent clashes are predominantly initiated by Palestinians and then selective footage is utilized for propaganda. There are no parallel Jewish organizations who counter the Palestinian aggression so the settlers have no utility in producing the footage which would complete the picture. Notwithstanding, that is one source of violent footage.
- There is a certain element of at-risk youth, who take the liberty to engage in vigilantism, and engage in violent acts. This phenomenon is a far cry from the state funded Palestinian terror waging hundreds of attacks with explosives and guns and responsible for tens of murders every year, but it clearly draws international attention because it serves the goal of delegitimizing Israel. Nonetheless, this phenomenon does exist and is dealt with more harshly by the police than its Palestinian corollary, likely due to the ongoing “Settlers Violence” campaign.
Jaffa: A Case Study
Jaffa has long been a mixed city. Over time, its Jewish community declined: synagogues closed, communal life faded, and Jewish presence weakened. In 2007, the Torani Community of Jaffa was established to revitalize the Jewish community both culturally and spiritually. Young families moved in, educational institutions opened, and hundreds of students now participate in Torah and community programs.
For the Jewish community, this was revival. For many Arab residents, it was interpreted as an unwelcome incursion—despite centuries of continuous Jewish presence.
On December 13, 2025, three religious Jewish boys walking down a street in Jaffa were verbally harassed. The confrontation escalated. Fourteen young Arab men attacked them. The boys used pepper spray and fled. All parties were detained. The court ultimately ruled that the boys had acted in self-defense.
That is not what was widely reported.
The story that spread claimed the boys attacked a pregnant woman and her children. Social media and Arab-language outlets called for removing “settlers” from Jaffa. Once again, neighbors who had lived alongside Jews for generations were mobilized under a familiar chant: itbach al-yahud—“slaughter the Jew.”
On January 1, a rabbi from the community was beaten so severely he was hospitalized. Police dismissed the attack as the act of a mentally unstable individual.
“This Is Literally a Blood Libel”
When I spoke to an administrator from the community, his voice was trembling. “This is a blood libel,” he said.
“I know”, I said, I have been following the “settler violence” campaign and that is exactly what it is. He interrupted:
“No. This is literally a blood libel. A fabricated story, like the matzah myths. And now people are afraid to walk outside. The Arabs are perfectly safe in Jaffa but we, religious Jews are now a legitimate target.”
History does not repeat itself exactly—but it echoes with unsettling clarity.
Conclusion: Recognizing Propaganda Before It Works
This is not about denying that Jews have committed acts of violence against Palestinians. Those incidents are real, documented, and are investigated and prosecuted just like any other crime in Israel if not more so.
But 300 incidents over six years (the latest UN data)—in a contested territory with ongoing security tensions—does not constitute the systematic campaign of terror that “settler violence” implies when it becomes a centerpiece of international discourse. Especially when violence in the opposite direction occurs at rates that are far higher, far more lethal and receives a fraction of the attention.
The question is not whether settler violence exists. The question is why it has been elevated to a crisis requiring global intervention, while far more pervasive violence is treated as unremarkable.
When a narrative is selectively constructed, amplified by organizations with documented ties to terrorist groups, and funded by governments with explicit political objectives—all while echoing historical patterns of Jewish delegitimization—skepticism is not cynicism. It is responsibility.
Propaganda does not announce itself. It works precisely because it feels righteous. The test is simple: when you find yourself suddenly convinced that Jews are the villains of the story, pause. Ask who benefits from that conclusion. Ask what evidence has been shown—and what has been omitted.
At the very least, we owe it to ourselves to question narratives that attempt to tear us apart, deny our right to exist, and place our people in mortal danger.
