Jewish terrorism is undermining Israel

By now, it is an open secret that there is a deep schism between the government and the chiefs of the security forces in Israel. These arguments are taking place more and more publicly and more and more heatedly. Like most other Israelis, those in charge of the country’s security are grappling with the fact that those who are currently calling the shots in government belong to the most extreme ultranationalist messianic religious elements. They are also holding to ransom a prime minister who, in the twilight of his political career, will do anything and everything to cling to power, including turning a blind eye to Jewish terrorism in the Occupied Territories.

In an unprecedented, bold and forthright letter addressed to Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other senior Cabinet ministers, Ronen Bar, head of Israel’s security agency Shin Bet, last month warned the country’s leaders that Jewish terrorism in the West Bank is out of control and is posing a serious threat to national security. Moreover, Bar also cautioned that this is likely to lead to worse bloodshed and the country changing for the worst and beyond recognition.

The letter, whose content was revealed by Israel’s Channel 12, was written by the person in charge of internal security and hence should keep any responsible government minister awake at night, and others too. It was a frightening confirmation for Palestinians of what they experience daily: that their safety and well-being are at the mercy of the most extreme elements of Israeli society. It should also shock ordinary Israelis who believe in the rule of law and the possibility of peacefully coexisting with their Palestinian neighbors as a moral imperative and as an expedient course of policy for anyone, anywhere who believes in decency in relations between human beings.

We are witnessing the normalization and legitimization of continuous acts of terrorism against Palestinian civilians

Yossi Mekelberg

For the Shin Bet to address Jewish terrorism is not new, and the organization has a department dedicated to the danger emanating from it. From killing Palestinian mayors in the West Bank and plotting to blow up the Dome of the Rock in the 1980s to the murder of 29 Palestinian worshippers in the Ibrahimi Mosque by a Jewish settler in 1993 and the assassination in 1995 of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, there is a history of Jewish terrorism. Yet, while these were all severe and history-changing events, they were rather sporadic. What we are currently witnessing is the normalization and the legitimization of continuous acts of terrorism against Palestinian civilians and their property, perpetrated with almost complete impunity.

Bar observed that these are not just thuggish attacks by individuals but acts of organized violence that are intended to create chaos and result in the security forces losing control. “I’m writing you this letter in pain, great fear, as a Jew, as an Israeli, and as a member of the security forces,” Bar declared — a chilling warning of the gravity of the threat these terrorist settlers’ atrocities pose to the long-term existence of Israel.

Some of Bar’s observations in this letter are well known to anyone who has observed this ugly phenomenon for years, such as the many human rights organizations that have constantly called on Israel to put a stop to Jewish terrorism, to no avail. The situation has only worsened because these so-called hilltop youth feel a tail wind now that their representatives are elected members of the Knesset and, even worse, are at the heart of government.

These ministers have either been previously involved in such activities themselves, have outlined the ideology that guides them and makes them permissible in their eyes or now continue to protect the settler perpetrators from facing the consequences of their actions.

Bar’s declaration that “the ‘hilltop youth’ phenomenon long ago became a hotbed of violence against Palestinians” is to at last call a spade a spade and, more importantly, to state bluntly, as Bar does, that their violence is aimed at fearmongering. Hence, they are acts of terrorism that are encouraged by light-handed treatment and “a secret sense of backing” from the police.

Israel’s police force, under the far-right Ben-Gvir, has repeatedly been accused of turning a blind eye to the violent actions of settler extremists, while being heavy-handed with pro-democracy demonstrators and ceasefire protesters. The thin-skinned Ben-Gvir, in another of his infantile outbursts, responded to these accusations during a Cabinet meeting by calling for Bar’s dismissal and then storming out when Netanyahu and other ministers defended the Shin Bet chief.

They are acts of terrorism that are encouraged by light-handed treatment and ‘a secret sense of backing’ from the police

Yossi Mekelberg

But Bar is not alone in his warnings of the danger of allowing settlers’ political violence to continue, as the army has echoed his concerns. Alas, there is a tragic irony here because, in many of these terrorist attacks on Palestinians, it is the army whose soldiers accompany and protect the assailants instead of protecting their victims.

Only last month, an Israel Defense Forces investigation into a deadly terror attack carried out by dozens of Israeli settlers on the West Bank village of Jit found that troops who arrived first at the scene failed to act as they should and stop the assailants. Instead, the soldiers let them rampage through the village, firing live bullets and tossing petrol bombs and rocks at buildings and vehicles, resulting in one death, many injuries and widespread damage to property. This was only one incident out of many hundreds that together continue to build an atmosphere of fear and terror among Palestinians living close to these settlements and those settlers, as they cannot rely on the Israeli army to protect them.

At last, there has been an admission by a courageous senior Israeli official that Jewish terrorism in the Occupied Territories does exist, that it is causing serious damage to Israel’s own interests as well as to the health and safety of Palestinians, and that there are people in government who are facilitating it. This leaves open the question of what the government is going to do about it, especially while the prime minister is totally dependent on the settlers’ leaders — and the most extreme of them — for his political survival.

How will Israeli society respond and save itself from being implicated by remaining silent? And if there is no adequate response from Israel’s government or its people, then it is left to the international community to provide those who are defenseless and under occupation with the protection to which they are entitled.

So far, neither Israel’s government nor its people have been prepared to change their forgiving approach to settler terrorism and the measures taken by the international community have been no more than lip service. Hardly a recipe to discourage these abhorrent attacks.

• Yossi Mekelberg is a professor of international relations and an associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House. X: @YMekelberg