Netanyahu downplays Jewish settler violence in Judea and Samaria, blames it on 'handful of kids’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu downplayed the significance of the recent series of attacks by settlers affiliated with the Hilltop Youth movement, arguing the incidents were carried out by “a handful of kids” in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday.

In an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, as part of his visit to the United States, Netanyahu called reporting on the phenomenon as “bloated.” 

Baier asked the prime minister, “Settler violence in the West Bank continues to rise, and that does threaten some regional stability. How are you addressing that?” 

“Well, first of all, I think it's much bloated,” Netanyahu responded. “You know, when they're talking about it, they're talking about a handful of kids.” 

We actually located it,” Netanyahu continued, apparently referring to the Hilltop Youth movement. “It's about 70 kids.” 

The prime minister also repeated a common argument from many in the larger settler movement, claiming that those responsible for the violence are not from the area. 

“They’re not from the West Bank,” Netanyahu claimed, using the term commonly adopted by the international community for the territories Jordan illegally annexed in the 1950s.

“They actually come from – teenagers who come from broken homes,” he continued. “And they do things like chopping the olive trees, and sometimes they try to burn a home. I can't accept that. That's vigilanteism. I'm taking that out.” 

Several of the attacks have involved over 100 individuals, while others have involved the maiming and slaughtering of farm animals owned by Palestinians living in disputed areas. 

However, investigative reports have demonstrated that for many incidents, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s claim is accurate. Most incidents of violent confrontation initiated by Israelis are done by a small subset of the settler movement.

Efforts to investigate some of the incidents have been hampered by the age of the youth, the unwillingness of compatriots to corroborate any incriminating details, and an unwillingness on the part of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, himself a former associate of the Hilltop Youth movement, to prosecute the few who are detained. 

Netanyahu also called attention to another issue with the reporting on settler violence. Much international reporting on confrontations between Jews and Arabs in the disputed territories relies almost exclusively on witnesses hostile to the settler movement.

Such reporting also fails to report the corresponding phenomena of Arab-initiated violence against Jews living in Judea and Samaria. Incidents of throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at passing cars on roads throughout Judea and Samaria occur with much greater frequency than Jewish-initiated incidents. Attacks by both sides are often retaliatory, which further exacerbates the situation.  

“But they claim, they put a false symmetry between these teenagers and a thousand – actually, over a thousand terrorist attempts, terrorist attacks against the settlers,” Netanyahu explained. “Families, mothers who are driving on the roads there with their children. Boom. They're attacked. They're slain. So there's no symmetry.” 

The premier was adamant in his condemnation of the phenomenon, saying he desired peace between the two populations. 

“I can't accept it. Even if it's not parallel, even if it's not symmetrical, I want peaceful coexistence between the Israelis and the Palestinians who live in Judea-Samaria, which is part of our ancestral homeland.”