National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stated that “the days of police using the Hilltop Youth as a punching bag are over,” in reference to a recent drop in the policing of settlers who commit anti-Palestinian violence in an interview with N12 News on Thursday.
Ben-Gvir declared that he was proud that police had stopped “harassing” Hilltop Youth members.
Hilltop Youth is a right wing activist group in the West Bank responsible for multiple incidents of settler violence against Palestinians.
A group of Hilltop Youth members vandalized and set fire to a mosque in a Palestinian village near Salfit, north of Ramallah, on Wednesday night.
No injuries were reported, but the graffiti included intimidating messages such as “Muhammad is a pig” and “not afraid of Avi Bluth.” IDF Central Command Chief Maj.-Gen. Avi Bluth previously called Jewish violence against Palestinians “terrorism.”
On Tuesday, 94 Jewish settlers launched an arson attack near the Palestinian city of Tulkarm in the northern West Bank, setting fire to multiple vehicles, a factory, and agricultural land. Four Palestinians were injured in the attack.
According to the IDF on Wednesday, only four settlers were detained after the violence, with three being freed shortly afterwards.
Rising West Bank settler violence, decreasing policing
The number of criminal cases opened regarding settler attacks against Palestinian villages has dropped by over 70% since Ben-Gvir took office, according to N12 data released on Wednesday. The decrease in policing does not correlate with the actual rates of settler violence, which have been rising in recent weeks.
Yisrael Ganz, chairman of the Yesha council, has previously condemned settler violence and the “tremendous damage” the extremists inflict. Gantz recounted an experience of nearly being attacked during an interview on 103FM, saying that they threatened to burn his car and almost beat him up.
"This is a group of criminals who need to be stopped and simply made to stop going wild," Ganz said, calling for a "much tougher and much faster hand" in dealing with the perpetrators.
Hilltop Youth members also attacked IDF soldiers and damaged military vehicles when the IDF responded to calls of settler riots and violence.
A recent report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs claimed that settler violence reached a record-breaking high in October since the agency began tracking such incidents in 2006.