The Growing Dangers of Ben-Gvir and His Hilltop Followers

In recent days, articles in the Washington Post and in The Guardian make claims about rampant anti-Catholic actions in the West Bank and Old City led by hilltop settlers and rightwing Zionist youth groups. This followed a sensationalized story of abuses of Palestinian prisoners promoted by their leader Itamar Ben-Gvir.
The anti-Catholic claims primarily focus on hilltop youth attacks on Tabyeh, the last exclusively Christian community in the West Bank. While broad claims are made, all of the articles only list a few incidents: the burning of a two cars in separate incidents and the harassment of a cement factory. In addition, a nun was knocked over and kicked in the Old City and rightwing Jewish youth groups parade provocatively there. These unacceptable actions are highlighted rather than the Islamic actions that are responsible for the dramatic declines in Gaza and Bethlehem Christians.

While the claims made by The New York Times’ Nicolas Kristof – that dogs were trained to sexually abuse Arab prisoners – can be dismissed, there is no question that treatment of prisoners has been unjustifiably harsh. And an important reason is that the prisons are administrated by Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Ben-Gvir’s role is transparent. He has publicly endorsed harsher treatment for Palestinians and was proud of the worsening conditions of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli facilities, saying, “I am here to ensure that the ‘terrorists’ receive the minimum of the minimum [of food].” According to several testimonies, at some prisons, extreme punishment took place shortly after his visit.

Ben-Gvir’s West Bank followers seem to have heeded his call. “Up to 80 percent of incidents that Israeli troops in the West Bank record are Jewish attacks on Palestinians,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was told on May 14th. The unchecked surge of violence has led to chaos in the West Bank.

One reason for the uptick in Jewish attacks was Ben-Gvir’s decision to greatly expand the number of settlers that have gun permits. In September 2025, Ben-Gvir approved adding several cities, towns, and settlements in Israel and the West Bank to the list of areas whose residents are eligible for private gun licenses, according to a statement from his office. Since the start of this armament policy, about 230,000 new licenses for carrying firearms have been issued.

In March, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, who heads Israel’s Central Command, which is responsible for the West Bank, said, “There will be zero tolerance for civilians who take the law into their own hands.” He added, “We cannot allow reckless internal violence to undermine the rule of law and the security of the region.” Hopefully, Bluth will be effective in countering the climate Ben Gvir has created but with so many settlers armed, he has an impossible task.

Some of the criticism of Ben-Gvir has been directed towards his indifference to the growing number of murders in Arab communities. Deadly violence is substantially associated with family feuds and criminal gangs. In 2020, the previous Netanyahu government initiated an effort, led by the highest-ranking Arab officer, to recruit more Muslim officers. In less than two years, their numbers doubled.

Most unexpected was the concerted effort to recruit Arab women to help counter the violence against women. The director of Na’am/Women’s Center explained:
There is a relationship between being a less educated woman living in poverty in the centre of Israel, or as a Bedouin in the south of Israel, and being subject to misogyny, violence, forced or early marriage, and so on.… You find criminals paid to kill women who were in line to receive a good inheritance, women who wanted to get divorced, and so on.…

To make clear how welcoming the force would be to practicing Muslim women, the recruitment effort instituted new rules allowing women to wear a hijab while on duty. These initiatives led to the recruitment of seventy-four Arab women, of which two-thirds were Muslim. In recognition of the unprecedent success, President Reuven Rivlin hosted twenty-nine Muslim and Christian policewomen to recognize these changes.

Unfortunately, Ben Gvir may have weakened police resolve. In 2025, 252 Arab community members were killed in Israel, more than double the three years earlier. The report attributed this surge in homicides directly to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s inadequate response to surging criminal violence in Arab Israeli towns.

Ben Gvir and his ally Bezalel Smotrich have also tried to forestall implementation of spending initiates that were legislated to aid Arab citizens and those living in East Jerusalem. First, they tried to withhold funds that were part of a five-year plan to aid Arab towns. Next, they tried to eliminate funding that would aid East Jerusalem Arabs seeking admission to Israeli colleges. Thankfully, both attempts were unsuccessful.

In the past, Netanyahu was able to limit the influence of these anti-Arab extremists. He would run extremely racists election campaigns, leading many anti-Arab votes to choose Likud. However, in the most recent election this did not work and they voted for the extremists, giving them the power to demand important positions. And the war strengthened further their anti-Arab positions.

Unfortunately, substantial changes in West Bank and Israeli prison policies would require the defeat of the Netanyahu-led coalition in this fall’s elections. Polls suggest that the Change coalition that was successful five years ago is in the lead. There is no guarantee that it will gain the 61 Knesset seats required to win nor how much the new coalition would be willing to seek more conciliator policies in the West Bank, given the war’s trauma.