Published on December 23, 2023 at 2:23 p.m
For the first time, the required silence on attacks, abuses and arbitrary displacements against Palestinian civilians by small groups of extremist settlers in the West Bank is being questioned. Israeli Army Radio recognized that this violence has almost doubled since the war in Gaza began on October 7, following the Hamas massacres in southern Israel. More than 200 cases of violence against property and people have been recorded. For his part, Yoav Gallant, the Minister of Defense, publicly condemned these actions.
This change in tone also led to the freezing of operations of a special unit made up mostly of young extremist settlers three years ago in order to “channel their energy” and get them back on track. This mission failed. The unit has been blamed for violence, particularly against Palestinian pastoralist camps in the south of the West Bank.
International printing
This decision is largely the direct result of a wave of increasingly strong condemnation from the United States and Europeans, particularly France. The Americans followed their words with actions. Several dozen settlers accused of violence have been denied visas to enter the United States.
Washington also froze deliveries of 20,000 M-16 rifles out of fear that National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, head of a far-right anti-Arab party, would distribute the weapons to extremist settlers in the West Bank, home to half a million Israelis. France also announced sanctions and called on the European Union to do the same.
It remains to be seen whether this pressure will have an effect. Until now, extremists have benefited from virtual immunity and sometimes from the complicity of soldiers who have refused to take action against them. “12”, the most popular television channel, recently revealed that Itamar Ben Gvir had given secret instructions to the police force he is in charge of not to arrest the violent settlers.
Minimize the phenomenon
The minister then implicitly confirmed the information and declared that the repression should be against “nationalist criminals who want to kill Jews”, i.e. the Palestinians. He hit the nail on the head when he described information about violence attributed to settlers as “fake news that harms the State of Israel.” Small reminder: Before Itamar Ben Gvir became minister, he was prosecuted for racist anti-Arab statements, so he was exempted from military service due to his extremism.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also tried to downplay the phenomenon by declaring that the violence was only the work of “a handful of extremists.” Yoav Gallant, a former general, was the first government member to distance himself from this line. “Unfortunately there is violence by extremists that we must condemn. “Israel is a constitutional state in which the government, the army, the police and the Shin Beth (the internal security service responsible for combating terrorism) have a monopoly on legal violence,” emphasized the Israeli Defense Minister.
It is difficult to predict how this position will translate into action on the ground. The only certainty: Itamar Ben Gvir, who controls the civil administration in the West Bank, is determined to curb any desire for repression against those who support him.