Overlooked during the last 20 months amid the hyperfocus on the Israel-Hamas War and the plight of hostages – and then the lightning war with Iran – has been the issue of the seemingly unharnessed aggression by certain Jewish residents of Samaria against Palestinians.
It can’t be ignored – or swept under the rug – any longer.
Army Radio reported on Sunday that, according to Defense Ministry figures, Jewish nationalist attacks in the West Bank rose 30% this year, from 318 in the first half of 2024 to 414 during the same period in 2025.
The Jerusalem Post’s Yonah Jeremy Bob wrote on Sunday that while the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) are trying to prevent extremist Jewish violence in the West Bank against the Palestinians, it seems that the impact of a variety of policy shifts initiated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government (and spearheaded by its most extreme elements, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich) have made their job more difficult and encouraged some of those violent actors to be more brazen.
These fringe elements within the Jewish population of Judea and Samaria are not just terrorizing Palestinians – itself an affront – but they have no qualms about directing their violence against their fellow Israelis serving in the IDF.
In the latest affront, settlers reportedly vandalized and set fire to a West Bank military facility on Sunday night.
A KAN News report noted that millions of shekels had been invested in the facility to defend Jewish residents of the West Bank. This included cameras and systems to monitor and thwart terrorism in the area.
“The rioters who set fire to a security-operational facility tonight must be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” MK Avigdor Liberman, Yisrael Beytenu head and a former defense minister, wrote on X/Twitter on Monday morning.
“Any harm to IDF soldiers is a severe blow to the State of Israel and its values. I call on the law enforcement authorities to act decisively and to bring those responsible for these despicable acts to justice,” he added.
Multiple attacks in recent days
The arson was only the latest of an avalanche of attacks in recent days by renegade settlers against Palestinians and the IDF.
It stems from the inability or unwillingness of the government to order the army and security services to deal with the issue from the roots.
It’s ironic that while these wanton lawbreakers are doing everything they can to tear down societal norms and blacken the name of Israelis, the vast majority of Jewish residents of the territories are exemplary citizens, eager to live in peace with their Palestinian neighbors.
All Israelis should embrace the communities – from Gush Etzion and Ma’aleh Adumim to Ariel and Ofra – that represent an unshakeable Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria. Its residents have done their share and more, valiantly serving in the IDF for far too long since October 7 and defending our country along with soldiers inside the Green Line.
When you’re on the battlefield, it doesn’t matter where you’re from; you share a common goal. And they’ve suffered equally, if not more, losing dozens of soldiers in the war and seeing far more come home with debilitating injuries.
They represent the true spirit and values of the settler movement, not the outliers who use fear and violence to stake their claim to a land that must ultimately be shared.
The focus of our security forces has rightfully been on the survival of the Jewish state, as the country has fought enemies on seven fronts. But the enemy from within needs to be addressed now. As the Post’s Bob wrote, this enemy is growing, as evidenced by the dozens who clashed with the IDF this past weekend.
The reports that a police special task force will be established to cooperate with the IDF and Shin Bet to locate far-right rioters in the West Bank are a welcome decision. N12 reported that Israel Police Commissioner Daniel Levi instructed that all means and capabilities should be used to catch the rioters.
The lawbreakers among those who live in Judea and Samaria are a small but growing cancer that needs to be cut out before they’re allowed to multiply. It’s not an issue of Left and Right; it’s one of right and wrong.