Amid rise of extremist Jewish violence in Judea & Samaria, IDF chief Zamir sounds alarm: Clashes between Jewish settlers and Palestinians harm Israel’s security

Despite Israel being in a state of war, with Iranian ballistic missile attacks on the country happening almost every night since Feb. 28, the past couple of weeks have seen a sharp increase in violence between extremist Jewish settler groups and Palestinians living in Judea and Samaria. 

The latest large-scale outburst came Saturday night, when several groups of settler youths carried out a series of attacks against civilians across Judea and Samaria following the death of a young Jewish settler activist, Yehuda Sherman.

Sherman, who lived in the illegal outpost of Shuva Yisrael Farms in northern Samaria, had been driving an ATV with his brother to inspect their farm when they were struck by a Palestinian vehicle.

Israel Police and the IDF said they are investigating the details of the incident to determine whether it was a case of nationalistic violence or reckless driving. Sherman’s family and the outpost where he lived accused the Palestinian driver of accelerating towards the ATV just before impact, which has not yet been confirmed. The driver of the vehicle turned himself in to the police later that evening. 

Israeli youths responded by carrying out arson attacks and vandalism in several surrounding villages, most of which had no direct connection to the Palestinian driver of the vehicle that hit Sherman’s ATV. Other groups of youth threw stones at cars and houses in several towns, causing extensive damage, and beating Palestinians who came out to investigate the disturbance. 

HORRIFIC night in the West Bank.

Israeli settlers are attacking more than nine Palestinian villages and cities now, including Bethlehem, setting cars and homes on fire and attempting to burn families alive. pic.twitter.com/blZwHOJaB5

— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) March 21, 2026

The IDF and police later issued a statement saying they had dispatched forces to restore order after receiving reports of “Israeli citizens who burned buildings and property, and disturbed the peace in the area.” 

The statement said that Israeli security agencies “condemn violence of any kind and will continue working to protect residents’ security and order in the area.”

However, no arrests were announced in the incidents, which is a regular occurrence in cases of Israeli violence against Palestinians in Judea and Samaria.

On Sunday, Israeli authorities announced the arrest of five Israeli citizens in conjunction with attacks in the town of Deir Khatab, one of the towns attacked by the mobs of settler youth, while noting that a police officer and several Palestinians were injured as the police tried to disperse a violent mob in another incident near Yitzhar. 

פורעים יהודים תקפו פלסטינים והציתו מכוניות בכפר דיר אל-חטב הסמוך לשכם, 4 נפצעו בינוני ו-5 קל - שניים מהפצועים נורו@nakash_noam pic.twitter.com/OdZhqFmk96

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) March 22, 2026

The Palestinian Red Crescent said that nine Palestinians were wounded in the attacks. Israeli authorities said they searched a suspicious vehicle at the scene, belonging to one of the Israelis, and discovered weapons. 

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said last week that nationalistic crime by Israelis is harming the IDF’s work to bring security to Judea and Samaria. 

Zamir noted that terror incidents by Palestinians are at their lowest level in years, due to hard work by the Israeli security services. However, he said nationalistic attacks by Jews “create extraordinary strategic damage to the IDF’s efforts.” 

“It cannot be that during a multi-front war, the IDF is forced to contend with a threatening minority from within,” Zamir said. “These are rioters who do not represent the settlement movement. On the contrary, they endanger the settlement enterprise, security stability, and our values as a people and as a state.” 

On Monday, the IDF said it had to divert an infantry battalion that was intended to be deployed to Lebanon to Judea and Samaria, citing the rise in violence there, and adding that it may need to send even more troops.

Zamir called on the government “to come out against this phenomenon and cut it off before it is too late.” 

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett also strongly condemned the West Bank settler violence in a statement last week. 

“We did not establish a Jewish state so that violent gangs would operate within it,” Bennett wrote to 𝕏. 

Former Prime Minister and Defense Minister Naftali Bennett on Jewish violence in Judea and Samaria:

“We did not establish a Jewish state so that violent gangs would operate within it.

I strongly condemn any display of nationalist violence by extremist Jews in Judea and Samaria.…

— Naftali Bennett נפתלי בנט (@naftalibennett) March 18, 2026

"More than half a million Israelis live in Judea and Samaria, good, decent people, the backbone of the country. The vast majority reject violence and crime," he added.

"Precisely as someone who believes in our right to the land and in the communities there, we must denounce the rioters and eradicate all violence from within our own ranks,” Bennett concluded. 

Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took time out of his tight schedule amid running the war against Iran to personally attend a held a security assessment at the IDF's Central Command, which is responsible for Judea and Samaria.

In a statement, Netanyahu praised the work of the security forces while condemning extremist settler activists who turn against the military, expressing his support for IDF commanders "who are working day and night for the security of Israel and all its citizens." However, he didn't explicitly denounce attacks by Jewish youths against Palestinian civilians.

Yaakov Katz, military expert and former Editor-in-Chief of The Jerusalem Post, warned that the phenomenon, "Beyond the moral rot, [...] is a strategic liability. Israel is in a war against Iran and we have a rare moment to unite a global coalition from the US to Europe to the Gulf, but that support is undermined when these attacks occur."

He added that Netanyahu "knows this and for that reason he went to the IDF Central Command on Friday to try and stop the violence in the middle of a war that needs to be his sole focus."