adapted from articles by Shilo Fried, Makor Rishon newspaper, translated by Hillel Fendel.
It has been widely reported that the Biden Administration, perhaps most vocally represented by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, has placed a heavy emphasis on stopping "settler violence" against Arabs of Judea and Samaria. The U.S. has even announced that it will restrict the entry of some Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria into its borders.
But the facts actually indicate that there is no such phenomenon as "settler violence." Even IDF Central District Commander Gen. Yehuda Fuchs - in many ways no friend of the Jewish settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria – has said, "99% of the hilltop youth do nothing wrong to anyone, not to the army and not to others. There is no such concept as 'settler violence.' There are incidents of violence in all kinds of places."
Left-wing organizations have initiated a campaign of late against a supposed increase in settler violence, which has had international success. Belgium, for instance, has announced that it will forbid entry into the country of "extremist settlers."
However, Shiloh Fried of the Makor Rishon newspaper has reported, based on law-enforcement sources, that there is actually a significant decrease in violent incidents in general between Jewish residents and Arabs in Judea and Samaria.
The data show that in the month beginning Oct. 7, there were 20 violent incidents – as compared to 53 in the same period last year. Similarly, the number of cases in which property was damaged during this period was down from 19 last year to 10 this year.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has addressed the issue, minimizing its extent while at the same time seemingly trying to appease the White House. He has said that only "a handful of extremists who do not represent the public take the law into their hands and cause great damage to Israel. We are unwilling to tolerate this and we will act against it." General Security Service (Shabak) head Ronen Barr said that the number of these "extremists" is not more than 40, of whom some do not even live in Judea and Samaria.
In response to strong accusations and even sanctions against Yesha extremists – which often leave the impression that the entire Yesha public is guilty – Yesha Council head Shlomo Ne'eman said: "We were surprised to see that the President of the United States, who from the beginning of the war has been on the side of truth and justice, has chosen to fall into the trap of the deceptive campaign by [left-wing organizations] B'Tzelem and Breaking the Silence. Mr. President, please understand that 'settler violence' is the fruit of the imagination of fringe left-wing propaganda."
Strong punitive measures have been taken against Jews of Yesha, at least some of which have been found to be unjustified. For instance, just last month an IDF soldier was returned to his army unit, after having been under arrest for five days on suspicion of having killed an Arab in the Shomron. Ultimately, the IDF Military Court ordered him released after finding that a small Arab mob had approached, threw rocks and dangerous objects, and threatened the lives of his family, leading the soldier to shoot in self-defense and kill one of the Arabs.
Just today, a youth named Elisha Yered, who resides in southern Shomron, was placed under administrative arrest for at least 24 hours, with no explanation. He has been living in the Jordan Valley for the last several months because of a restraining order signed by Gen. Fuchs. An IDF military court shortened the order, such that it was to end three weeks from now. In the meanwhile, however, Fuchs submitted an appeal of this decision – and Yered suddenly found himself under arrest.
Approximately six other Jews are currently being held in administrative detention. Just this past Friday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant signed a four-month order against one youth, leading to strong criticism by the Honenu civil rights organization: "Gallant is acting like the representative of the US in the Israeli government. There seem to be no laws, no government – just orders from Biden, the result of a campaign to blacken the settlers by anti-Semitic organizations abroad. Israel deserves its own Minister of Defense, not one acting on behalf of the U.S."
Fried further reported that MK Tzvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism), Chairman of the Knesset Subcommittee on Judea/Samaria Affairs, turned to the IDF Spokesman and asked that an announcement be issued denying the phenomenon of "settler violence." Sukkot said today, however, that no official announcement to this effect has yet been issued.
Also just recently, the IDF Prosecution announced that because of a "lack of evidence," it will not indict axe-wielding Arab attackers of a Jew. The reason is that the Israel Police refuse to question the Jew, for two reasons: He is still undergoing operations after having been seriously wounded in the attack, including a loss of consciousness, and also because of the message it would give over. "This was a nationalist attack of Arab terrorism against a Jewish victim, and we will not cooperate with placing the blame on the latter," Fried was told in the name of the police. Thus, just a month after the nearly fatal attack, the perpetrators have been set free.
In short, it may be justifiably said that the "settler violence" being bandied about in high-level negotiating rooms and in the media should more correctly be applied to the violence perpetrated upon the settlers.