Israeli leaders back settler attacks while “condemning” them
JVL Introduction
Israeli politicians have been compelled to verbally condemn settler violence, possibly under pressure from the USA as, it seems the assertion that it is caused by 70 kids from broken homes has worn thin even with Israel’s firmest ally. “But naming it is one thing, and confronting it is something else altogether. And so far, neither the government, the police, or the army have taken any steps — such as arresting the primary perpetrators – that would make a genuine difference on the ground. And the reason is simple: Settler violence is state policy.”
We must remember that Smotrich and Ben Gvir effectively demanded control of the West Bank as the price for joining a coalition to keep Netanyahu in office. They have made no secret of their commitment to settlement expansion and to taking full control of all the land. The Palestinians can be beaten, killed, their property burned and they cab be ethnically cleansed from their lands and they get no protection from the IDF; protection which is their responsibility, as an occupying power in international law. Rather the attacks are sometimes made by people wearing army uniforms and the lives and livelihoods of Palestinians are not even considered.
When a support organisation recently asked villagers in Susiya (pictured above) what they most needed after there had been another attack, they responded “fire extinguishers”.
Just as post October 7th 2023, the Israel – US war on Iran has seen exponential rises in the attacks with more than 10 a day since March 1st. In July 2025, the commander of the Israeli police forces in the West Bank stated: “that the police’s priority in the occupied territory is first and foremost to protect the settlement enterprise, which takes precedence over law enforcement and public order.”
LL
This article was originally published by +972 and Local Call on Thu 2 Apr 2026. Read the original here.
Israeli leaders are condemning settler attacks. It’s a smokescreen
The recent wave of denunciations from ministers, army chiefs, and right-wing pundits aims to obscure the fact that settler violence is state policy.
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Palestinians need to be able to defend themselves from these attacks and should be armed. Whatever Palestinian police or security that exists in parts of the West Bank need to start helping to back Palestinians. When all this is over, Zionists should be disarmed and banned from having a military. Palestinian Jews can be in the Palestinian armed forces alongside other Palestinians as equals, but no separate ethno supremacist iof.