{"id":41279,"date":"2025-12-15T07:15:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T15:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=41279"},"modified":"2025-12-22T09:39:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T17:39:32","slug":"west-bank-violence-is-soaring-fueled-by-a-capitulation-of-israeli-institutions-to-settlers-interests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/west-bank-violence-is-soaring-fueled-by-a-capitulation-of-israeli-institutions-to-settlers-interests\/","title":{"rendered":"West Bank violence is soaring, fueled by a capitulation of Israeli institutions to settlers\u2019 interests"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Arie Perliger<\/a>, UMass Lowell<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Owais Hammam was walking near his home in Khirbet Bani Harith in the West Bank on Dec. 3, 2025, when, according to media reports<\/a>, he was kidnapped by Jewish settlers. Over several hours at a nearby settlement, the 18-year-old Palestinian is alleged to have endured repeated beatings, humiliation and harassment<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel military soldiers were reportedly involved in the incident, before they eventually released him the next morning. Hamman was hospitalized with multiple injuries and severe psychological trauma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The alleged attack is far from isolated. The post-Oct. 7, 2023, environment has seen an escalation in settler violence<\/a>, which has gone from primarily involving vandalism and property destruction to now being marked by kidnapping, prolonged abuse and apparent military complicity<\/a>. In the two years to October 2025, more than 3,200 Palestinians<\/a> were \u201cforcibly displaced by settler violence and movement restrictions,\u201d according to United Nations figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Violence has increased to an extent that the U.N. said October 2025 was the worst month for West Bank settler violence<\/a> since it started recording incidents in 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a scholar who has studied Israeli extremist groups for over two decades<\/a>, I contend that the dramatic escalation of settler violence in the West Bank reveals a profound transformation within Israel\u2019s state institutions<\/a>. Rather than serving as purported neutral enforcers of law and order, the military, Israeli police and the broader governmental apparatus have become increasingly aligned with \u2014 and at times directly complicit in \u2014 violent settler actions against Palestinians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This institutional reluctance to address settler violence is not merely a failure of enforcement, I would argue, but a deliberate outcome of deep social, political and cultural changes that have reshaped Israeli society since at least the mid-1990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Settlers\u2019 dream government<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The most visible manifestation of this transformation is the composition of Israel\u2019s current government<\/a>, formed in December 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first time, key ministerial positions are held by individuals with explicit pro-settler ideologies and personal ties<\/a> to some of the most violent streams of the settlement movement. Hence, it is not surprising that prominent figures such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir<\/a> \u2014 both settlers with what has been described as extremist ideologies \u2014 have actively implemented policies that facilitate and legitimize settler violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, Ben-Gvir has significantly eased firearm regulations, issuing over 100,000 new gun licenses since October 2023, with settlers receiving preferential access<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smotrich, meanwhile, has publicly distributed security equipment to illegal outposts and allocated substantial budgets for settler militias<\/a>. This political backing fosters a climate in which settlers feel emboldened to act with impunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Men
Itamar Ben-Gvir, left, and Bezalel Smotrich, center, talk to reporters as they visit the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem on May 10, 2021. Gil Cohen-Magen\/AFP via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Beyond individual ministers, the Israeli government has pursued structural reforms that systematically undermine institutional checks on settler violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The transfer of the main Israeli governing body in the West Bank \u2014 the Civil Administration authority \u2014 from military central command to Smotrich\u2019s Finance Ministry<\/a> represents a fundamental shift in governance. For decades, the Civil Administration coordinated the provision of West Bank services such as health and education. It also served as an instrument for coordinating with the Palestinian Authority, the body entrusted per the Oslo Accords<\/a> with limited self-rule over parts of the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By placing the Civil Administration under political control rather than independent military command, the government has weakened one of the few mechanisms capable of restraining settler expansion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, plans to subordinate the West Bank Border Police to Ben-Gvir\u2019s Ministry of National Security<\/a> threaten to dismantle the unified command structure that has been instrumental in managing tensions in the occupied West Bank since 1967.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capitulation to settlers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Concurrent to these developments has been a blurring of lines between civilian settlers and uniformed security personnel. After Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli authorities distributed 8,000 army rifles to so-called civilian settlement defense squads and regional defense battalions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These armed settler groups now operate alongside \u2014 and are increasingly indistinguishable from \u2014 official security forces. Settlers frequently wear official uniforms and carry army-issued weapons<\/a> during attacks on Palestinians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Security infrastructure such as police stations is often physically located within settlements, fostering close relationships between law enforcement and settler communities<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would suggest that this geographic and institutional proximity makes neutral policing nearly impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cultural and social dimensions of this phenomenon run even deeper. Many settlers serve as army reservists, creating overlapping identities between civilian and military personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Civilian security coordinators, who are responsible for coordination between the military and the settlements\u2019 own \u201cdefense squads,\u201d actively shape military operational policy. They help define settlement boundaries, determine areas prohibited to Palestinians and occasionally command soldiers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soldiers typically interpret clashes as friction between civilians rather than crimes requiring intervention. When violence intensifies, they often declare an \u201cemergency situation\u201d and defend settlers rather than protecting Palestinian victims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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