Dozens of Jewish settlers rioted outside of a multi-million dollar security facility in the West Bank Sunday night and set it ablaze in a continuation of far-right settler protests against the IDF in recent days.
The violence comes after six settlers were arrested overnight Friday for assaulting a group of IDF reservists near the Palestinian village of Kafr Malik. The rioters Sunday were protesting the use of warning shots against settlers who committed the ambush Friday, which apparently resulted in the injury of a teenager.
The IDF denied that they had fired live ammunition at the settlers, writing in a statement that “an initial investigation indicates that IDF forces did not fire live ammunition at Israeli civilians in the area.” But settler groups have claimed this is false, posting a video of shell casings on the ground at the site of the attack.
The escalation of rioting by Israeli settlers comes after a violent attack Wednesday by armed Israeli settlers on two Palestinian villages in the West Bank. Three Palestinians were killed by IDF fire and two homes were set ablaze, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Israeli security forces arrested five settlers over the spree of violence.
Critics of extremist settlers and of the government in recent months have said that attacks by Jews on Palestinians living in the West Bank invariably go unpunished, and have intensified with attention focused on the war in Gaza. Opposition politicians regularly condemn government officials for doing too little to rein in settler violence.
In attacking soldiers, however, there was agreement at the top that the settlers had crossed a line.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz convened an urgent meeting about the settler violence against Israeli security forces Monday.
“This phenomenon must be immediately put to an end. We will take all necessary measures and uproot this violence from its roots — no one will dare raise their hand against IDF soldiers or security forces,” said Katz in a statement according to the Jerusalem Post.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar also condemned the recent attacks by Jewish extremist settlers against IDF soldiers.
“No civilized country can tolerate violent and anarchic acts such as the burning of a military installation, damage to IDF property, and assaults on security personnel by citizens of the state,” said Netanyahu in a statement.
“The settler community is a model and an example of developing the land, meaningful service in the IDF, and contributing to the cultivation of Torah scholars. We will not allow a violent and fanatic few to tarnish an entire community,” continued Netanyahu.
“I strongly condemn the violence against the IDF and security forces,” wrote Sa’ar in a post on X early Monday. “Such incidents are unacceptable, and the offenders must be severely punished. The IDF and security forces work day and night to protect Israel’s citizens and security. They must be supported, their activities must not be disrupted, and under no circumstances should any of them be attacked.”
But Yair Golan, the leader of the Democrats party, rejected the portrayal of the settlers as a fringe minority, writing in a post on X Monday that they are a “violent arm operating with the government’s legitimacy.”
“Some will continue to call them ‘weeds,’ ‘hilltop youth,’ ‘extremist minority.’ But this is no longer a negligible group. This is an armed and violent arm operating with the government’s legitimacy,” wrote Golan.
“These are Ben-Gvir and Smotrich’s militias, who see the law and the IDF as an unnecessary obstacle on their path to annexation. And they are no longer content with violence against Palestinians, but have long since turned against the IDF and the Zionist, democratic Israel,” the post continued.
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