In the last several days, the increasing attacks on Arab civilians in the West Bank have received attention in Israel and abroad.
US Senator Jacky Rosen wrote on XTwitter on March 23 that, “the coordinated attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank at the hands of Israeli extremists are unacceptable, and the perpetrators must be arrested and prosecuted. Violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank is a national security threat to Israel and must be treated as such.”
As we reported at the Post on Monday, “Israeli civilians committed over 20 attacks against Palestinian villages and towns in the West Bank on Saturday night, Israeli media reported. At least 11 Palestinians were injured during the widespread attacks, and dozens of vehicles and buildings were set on fire.”
These types of attacks, reportedly consisting of groups of Jewish teens and adults attacking Arab villages in the West Bank, have become more common.
Videos from several incidents have shown dozens of individuals running through the streets, attacking homes, and burning cars. According to those who support or excuse the attacks, the perpetrators were angry over the killing of a Jewish person, and they have decided to take the law into their hands and carry out “reprisals” against Arabs in random towns.
West Bank attacks fuel concerns over governance
Last week, Israel’s IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir condemned the violence in the West Bank, calling it “morally and ethically unacceptable.”
Zamir noted that “in recent months, there has been an increase in nationalist crime incidents, some of which are directed against our troops and toward civilian populations. It is unacceptable that during a multi-front war, the IDF is also forced to confront a threatening minority from within. These are rioters who do not represent the greater population. In reality, they endanger residents, security, stability, and our values as a people and as a state. I call on all authorities in the country to act against this phenomenon and stop it before it is too late.”
Former US Ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, wrote on X that “this must stop. Israeli authorities must put a stop to it. And the US administration should make clear that is what it calls for and expects.”
The German Ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, noted on March 8 that “it is possible and necessary to be appalled by both: Iran using cluster bombs against Israeli civilians, and 5 Palestinians killed in one weekend of settler violence. My best wishes to the injured in Tel Aviv and sincere condolences to the bereaved families in the West Bank.”
He also noted on Sunday, “the violent settler rampage in Palestinian villages following the tragic and to be investigated death of one of their own.”
Israel’s Foreign Minister slammed Seibert, claiming, “Ambassador Seibert finds it very difficult to condemn attacks against Israelis without bringing up the Palestinians. His obsession with Jews living in Judea and Samaria prevents him from even condemning the death of a Jew caused by a Palestinian.”
The response to the rising violence and lawlessness in the West Bank has been unclear. In some cases, the IDF has bolstered forces in the West Bank because of the chaos. However, the Israeli army does not have police powers; it can’t investigate, arrest or press charges.
When a home or a car is burned, or when a person is shot, an investigation is required, which means that authorities must treat the victims as deserving of having rights to life, liberty and property. These are basic concepts that have underpinned the concept of law and order in most countries for thousands of years.
Legal aspects, such as the right to a trial, or basic details of police work in crime investigation, are foundations of Western civilization. This is what separates countries of law and order from those that are run by mob violence, and has always been a basic challenge of societies.
A strong modern country that is successful has a rule of law, which collapsed states generally do not have. This way, those countries become Hobbesian places where “survival of the fittest” or “law of the jungle” is the norm. This usually results in people retreating back to the concept of tribe or clan, or even gang, in order to find “protection.”
The spectrum of law and order to chaos shapes the first scene of the film The Godfather, when a father comes to Don Corleone to ask for help regarding an injustice to his daughter. He says that men attempted to rape his daughter, and they beat her, but a judge suspended the sentence and let the men go. He wants justice. He wants them killed.
The Godfather says he will help, but notes that killing the men is not a just response. In this case, we see how justice has failed to protect a community, and some members of the community then seek mob justice. Although the scene is poignant and moving, most of us would prefer a society where we don’t have to go to a mafia don to get justice.
However, while most of us would argue we don’t want the mafia running our way of life, we look at the West Bank, and we don’t always draw the same line between chaos and law and order.
One argument about the violence asserts that “settler violence” is a “myth.” This is the line taken in an article at the publication Tablet. The argument asserts, depending on who makes it, that Palestinians are the ones causing more violence. The assertion is that we should focus on them. This is kind of a ‘two wrongs make a right’ argument.
A vicious circle has been established in the West Bank, working in a way in which, as Arabs commit acts of violence, Jews attack back, generating more violence coming from the Arab side, and the circle keeps rolling. The theory is that since a few Arabs do something wrong, then communal revenge is normal, and we should downplay it because “the others are worse.”
The concept of community-based violence, of tribes taking revenge, can be found in places like Syria, Afghanistan, or the Congo. When Bedouin in Syria justify attacks on Druze or Kurds, they argue that “the Druze did it first” or “a Kurd took down a Syrian flag and insulted it.” Their excuse is that if one Druze or one Kurd does something wrong, then the whole community should be attacked.
Similarly, in Pakistan, when members of the minority Hindu or Christian community are accused of a crime, the whole community is attacked.
Is the West Bank, controlled by Israel for 59 years, becoming like Afghanistan, the Congo or Syria in terms of lawless communal violence? It would be surprising if Israel, which built Iron Dome and is considered one of the most hi-tech success stories in the world, can’t enforce basic law and order.
The challenge in the West Bank boils down to providing Arabs with the rights not to be attacked and not having their homes, cars and businesses burned. This means giving them the right to testify and press charges, taking statements and creating files and reports for each incident.
Treating the incidents as nationalist violence that can be addressed with more troops as a buffer zone doesn’t provide an answer. Troops are not trained to be police; they can’t take statements, investigate or create a court case.
Some argue that Israel should annex or extend sovereignty to the West Bank. This means having laws for everyone, and not having lawlessness.
The essence of Zionism argued that Jews should be able to create a country like other countries. Law and order was a basic agenda of David Ben-Gurion, Menachem Begin and all the early Zionists and founders. They gifted Israel with a strong sense of law and order, not mob rule. In fact, preventing mob rule was a basic agenda of Israel’s politicians in 1950 after the War of Independence.
One of the key documents that led to Israel’s creation is the Balfour Declaration of 1917, and Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a copy of the text and an explainer on its website. “The Balfour Declaration recognized not only the inalienable rights of the Jewish people, but it also stipulated that ‘nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.’ The Balfour Declaration made clear that supporting Jewish rights did not preclude the rights and liberties of the Arab side.”
Israel’s own Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that Arabs in the West Bank deserve rights and liberties, including the right to be secure in their homes and property.
If their homes are burned, they should be able to press charges. Those who see Israel as part of the West and Western civilization should want the basic concepts of law and order that built the West applied to the West Bank.