Senior IDF Officials Warn Israeli Government Is Encouraging Violent Settlers
DUBAI — Senior Israeli army officials have warned that the country’s political leadership is encouraging settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, as efforts to calm tensions have been met with silence from influential figures in the settlement movement.
Security officials told Haaretz that there is “no civilian address” willing to help curb the violence. They warned that residents of Palestinian villages subjected to repeated attacks may soon stop showing restraint in the face of arson and violence.
“A confrontation that begins inside a Palestinian village quickly escalates into violence, gunfire and mass clashes,” a security source said. “Palestinians have decided they will no longer stand by while their homes are being set on fire, as the State of Israel supports it and the army secures it”.
About 70 local Palestinian “protection committees,” modeled on civilian emergency response squads, have been established across the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority to protect residents from settler violence. While the groups are unarmed, the IDF fears encounters between them and settlers or Israeli soldiers could further escalate tensions.
The warnings follow a deadly escalation on Friday when at least four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were killed in a shootout after armed Israeli settlers approached the Palestinian village of Tal, southwest of Nablus. The IDF has stressed that every recent deadly incident involving Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank began after settlers entered Palestinian villages and provoked confrontations.
Senior Israeli officials have urged Defense Minister Israel Katz to reconsider the use of detention without trial orders against leaders of violent settler attacks, which the security establishment considered a key tool for removing the organizers of settler violence from the area. The political leadership has yet to respond.
IDF officials have also warned that reinforcing forces in the West Bank in response to the surge in violence could require another reserve call-up, potentially undermining the military’s readiness for a possible campaign in Lebanon if tensions with Iran escalate.
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