Is there violence in Judea and Samaria? Is there terror? Do Jews engage in violence or even in terror?
One would be obliged to reply affirmatively to all those questions. Yet, those replies would not properly answer what the reality is in the West Bank. Moreover, they would even mislead.
If there is no context, if the overall picture is lacking, then any reports lose their worth and become grist for propaganda purposes. In addition, the news of such violence becomes disingenuous and can distract from the real problems.
Recently, moderate voices from multiple camps, and particularly within those Jewish residents who are religiously observant and live in Jewish communities located in the West Bank, have launched several campaigns to counter the phenomenon that has become known as the “hilltop youth.”
It’s become a trend – one that is worthy, but also problematic.
Jewish settler violence
Advertisements in newspapers and on social media platforms have appeared. Multiple stories in the press, printed and electronic, have been generated. Prominent individuals from ‘within the camp’ have been interviewed or have published personal opinion columns. Conferences have been convened.
I have no proof that any of this is pushed by certain interested parties who do not sympathize with a Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria or that it is funded to any degree. In any case, it does not nullify the criticism’s authenticity nor its value.
I myself have published columns in this newspaper, both analyzing and criticizing this phenomenon of violence. Moreover, I have pointed to an unfathomable lack of responsibility by the police, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), rabbis, community leaders, and parents.
Nevertheless, concentrating and highlighting one element of the reality of violence in Judea and Samaria carries with it the distinct possibility that the resulting picture the public receives is skewed.
It leads to a desired assumption and a conclusion that may not be connected to the underlying problematic issues. It may also make matters more complicated and less solvable.
These matters have no practical, political, or moral solution but a combination of all. This does not lessen the severity of the matter, nor does it reduce interest, but it honestly tries to resolve the issues.
It also blurs what is happening, for there are several groups involved, and there are Zionist accomplishments that are being achieved that are legal and worthwhile, but are suffering from the hue and cry.
An example: This past Shabbat, Arabs from Duma attacked a Jewish shepherd from the Giborei David farm with clubs and stones. His skull was fractured, requiring complicated surgery.
Two and a half hours later, also near Duma, an Arab intentionally crashed into a Ranger vehicle driven by someone seeking to assist another shepherd who was being approached by a separate group of Arabs. From the impact, the driver hit his head on the windshield and was injured.
In short, it seems there are at least two forms of violence in the West Bank that require a public discussion that would provide both balance and perspective based on all the facts.
Statistics on West Bank violence
Over the past two years, Arabs of the Palestinian Authority have committed thousands of terror attacks against Jews, as well as widespread daily rock-throwing. During this short period, Arab terrorists murdered 66 Jews and wounded as many as 500.
The Shin Bet prevented 1,040 significant terror attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem during 2024.
A year ago, the Institute for National Security Studies reported that in 2024, 6,828 terror attacks were carried out (including stone-throwing and Molotov cocktails) in the West Bank, including Jerusalem’s newer neighborhoods, which doubled the number of attacks in 2023.
These attacks include vehicular rammings, stabbings, shootings, and explosive devices.
This year, in January, the IDF’s Central Command announced an increase of approximately 27% in Arab terror crime in 2025, around 870 incidents.
The 2025 Summary Report of United Hatzalah of Judea & Samaria (SSF) recorded 24 murders of Jews, with 56 children left orphaned and 14 wives widowed.
The breakdown of terror incidents included 3,560 stone throwings of multiple stones, 495 firebombs tossed, 296 burning tires on roads, 655 laser-blindings, 286 explosive devices, and 38 paint bombs thrown.
It cannot be ignored that a driver could have been seriously injured, leading to the car running off the road or crashing into another vehicle.
The Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security points to a “mechanism of false complaints and systematic bias in reporting” of the violence committed, or not, by Jews.
Many complaints are coordinated with far-left organizations and anarchist activists. This assures a reality of “media amplification,” which is when media coverage is minimal and late, if at all, when the complaints are proven false.
Violence by Jews is immoral and illegal, and the authorities are being too lax, negligent, or incapable of dealing with the matter.
Nevertheless, ignoring the underreported Arab violence leads to it becoming ordinary and normative. It then becomes justified in certain quarters, and that is a worse problem.
The writer is a researcher, analyst, and commentator on political, cultural, and media issues.