Tel Aviv / PNN /

 Extremist Israeli settlers continue committing successive crimes in the occupied West Bank, including land seizures, looting, establishing dozens of settlement outposts, attacking Palestinian villages, killing and injuring residents, and assaulting livestock herders to force them off their land. These actions are either supported by the Israeli army or met with inaction from its soldiers at best.

These crimes have persisted for many years. The extremist settlers are often described as an unofficial arm of Israel, and authorities handle them with extreme leniency, rarely pursuing, arresting, or prosecuting them. This tolerance has increased under the current Benjamin Netanyahu government, which includes parties representing these extremist settlers and defending them, although such conditions existed even before this administration.

The Israeli security apparatus—comprising the army and Shin Bet—appears belatedly aware of the consequences of settler terrorism against Palestinians and now attempts to cover up its own crimes since the occupation of the West Bank in 1967. Officials are issuing “warnings” to the government, claiming that pressures from coalition ministers and Knesset members are creating security tensions in the West Bank that could explode at any moment.

An Israeli security source told Haaretz: “No one today is properly managing the West Bank, and everyone knows we are on the verge of an explosion. Field officers are genuinely afraid to address problems or enforce the law because they would instantly become targets for extremists supported by ministers and Knesset members.”

According to another Israeli officer, “The West Bank is the most combustible area. We remain silent, but a single event could ignite the entire West Bank and engulf the Israeli army,” referring to potential large-scale troop deployments.

Security officials told the newspaper that neither the government nor security forces have held strategic discussions regarding developments in the West Bank for months. They expressed frustration over settler attacks on Israeli officers and soldiers, noting: “Although there have been many incidents over the years where Jews attacked senior officers in the West Bank, the current period is the toughest.”

These developments come amid support from decision-makers for settlers who target both Palestinians and Israeli forces in the West Bank, creating an environment where they can act with impunity. One officer noted that in the past month alone, six incidents occurred that could have ended like the Duma family killing.

Security sources indicated that Defense Minister Israel Katz has refrained from intervening in West Bank developments, while Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who oversees the Civil Administration within the Defense Ministry, along with Minister Ayelet Shaked, is effectively implementing de facto annexation of the West Bank. “However, no strategic deliberations have yet been held regarding this plan in the West Bank or concerning the Palestinian Authority,” the sources added.

Eyal Zamir, Head of Research at Military Intelligence, recently warned during a briefing that “the recent period is the most challenging in the West Bank regarding Jewish violence against Palestinians,” cautioning that the deteriorating situation risks undermining Palestinian residents, many of whom have ceased working in Israel since the start of the war. He highlighted growing Palestinian frustration and the potential for a security collapse.

A senior Israeli officer explained the lack of reporting to political leadership, saying: “The Israeli army fears speaking out and has lost authority in the region. The army hides behind arrests of activists or local operations in refugee camps, but these are isolated incidents. No one says what comes next.”

Haaretz also reported that Central Command head Avi Blot boasts of establishing approximately 120 “farms”—random settlement outposts considered illegal because they were set up without official authorization. A senior officer stated that hundreds of these “farms” have been connected to infrastructure costing billions of shekels, with the army remaining silent while sending troops to help build and guard them, despite their illegality.

The same officer highlighted other army actions, stating: “Everyone talks about settlers uprooting Palestinian trees, but no one mentions the number of trees the Israeli army has removed for building these farms or roads to access them. We are sent to guard farms with just ten youths. Then you have to explain to a soldier’s mother that her son was killed defending the homeland.”

An officer responsible for operations in the Tulkarem refugee camp since last summer stated that “nothing has happened since that operation. Soldiers remain inside houses without transferring responsibility to the Palestinian Authority, which seeks to establish a police center, set up lighting, pave roads, and prevent mines. No one in the Israeli army is asking for answers about the next steps.”

A senior officer involved in extensive training for the West Bank military division recently remarked: “Anyone claiming it is impossible to attack a settlement in the West Bank or an Israeli town near the front line is not telling the public the truth. There is no such warning now, but anyone claiming ‘we didn’t know this would happen’ is simply lying to the public.”

The officer described Israeli-Palestinian security coordination as “good,” but added: “A single event in which settlers attack and kill Palestinians could quickly turn the West Bank into a real battlefield and draw the entire Israeli army into it.