In response to official condemnations issued by Israeli President Isaac Herzog and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Israeli settlers set fire to a mosque near the occupied West Bank city of Salfit yesterday, reported Middle East Eye. They also spray-painted racist slogans on the outer walls of the mosque. Some of the graffiti included condemnation of Maj. Gen. Abraham Ahron Bluth, the commander of the IDF’s Central Command, which oversees the West Bank. According to the Times of Israel, the assailants had left graffitied messages of defiance like “We are not afraid of Avi Bluth,” “We will take revenge again,” and “Keep on condemning.”
Bluth was attacked by settlers earlier this week after he criticised the recent surge in settler attacks against Palestinians, fearing that it drives instability. “The reality in which anarchist marginalized youth act violently against innocent people and against security forces is an intolerable and extremely serious reality that must be dealt with harshly,” he said. “Dealing with the phenomenon requires the integration of all systems of the State of Israel, education, welfare, enforcement and punishment.” Bluth’s criticism preceded the statements by Herzog and Zamir.
The round of recent denunciations was in reaction to a particularly brazen attack on Nov. 11 in which dozens of masked Israeli settlers set fire to vehicles and other property in the Palestinian villages of Beit Lid and Deir Sharaf, ToI further reports. The army said the settlers then fled to a nearby industrial zone and attacked soldiers responding to the violence. Four Israelis were arrested, three of whom have already been released, and four Palestinians were wounded, authorities said.
Towards the end, ToI notes that Palestinians and human rights workers accuse the Israeli army and police of failing to halt attacks by settlers. The government is dominated by far-right proponents of the settler movement, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who formulates settlement policy, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the police force.
About 94% of all investigation files opened by the Israel Police into settler violence from 2005 to 2024 ended without indictment, according to monitoring by Israeli human rights group Yesh Din. Since 2005, just 3% of the investigation files opened into settler violence have led to full or partial convictions.
