JERUSALEM (JTA) — The leader of the main settlers’ council in Israel for 30 years has resigned reportedly over ideological differences with other settler leaders.
Pinchas Wallerstein, secretary general of Yesha, the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, announced his resignation Monday, to be effective at the end of the month.
Other settler leaders criticized Wallerstein recently for condemning insubordination in the Israeli army. Wallerstein also said he believed that the government should come down harder on extremist settler activists, condemning in particular the "price tag policy" in which settlers lash out against Palestinians in response to government actions against settlements.
"Following an internal conflict and quite a few difficulties, I decided to resign from my position in the Yesha Council, both as member of the secretariat and as director," Wallerstein wrote in his resignation letter.
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