Jewish Settlers

West Bank settler. Shaul Yudelman (screenshot) 

No one has to convince me that Palestinians have never accepted our presence in ‘their’ land. Meaning Palestine - all of what is now called Israel. I doubt that there is a single Palestinian that in his (or her) heart doesn’t believe that. Nor do I doubt that if they had it in their power, they would expel us all and ‘take back’ the land that was ‘stolen’  from them by the Jews. I have no illusions about some sort of peaceful and happy coexistence between the 2 peoples at this point in time.

That said, most Palestinians realize that getting their land back is never going to happen. While in their hearts they support even violent attempts to do so, most - I think - would settle to just live their lives peacefully in homes they have lived in for many generations.

Although there have been occasional terrorist attacks from the West Bank that have killed Jews (which they celebrate as a moral victory), most of them realize that this is not the path to their future. And it they were to be given a state of their own, that would be heaven compared to what they have now. Unfortunately their patron saint Jihadist terrorist leaders will never agree to that. For them it is all of Palestine. Nothing less.

Then there is  the Jewish version of that - settlers who insist on populating all of Eretz Yisroel - the land promised in the bible by God to our ancestors:  Land that includes Judea and Samaria on the west bank of the Jordan River.. 

Contrary to popular belief, most settlers are not evil people. They are just religious Jews that believe they are fulfilling the will of God.  But there are two types of setters.

One type accepts that Palestinians live on the West Bank, too. They do not need or want to expel them. They just want to fulfill their obligation to settle all of Eretz Yisroel. And otherwise have good relations with their neighboring Palestinian villages 

Then there is another type of settlers with the same religious fervor about settling all of Eretz Yisroel. But have no interest in living peacefully with their Palestinian neighbors. They believe that Palestinians must leave the West Bank – either voluntarily or by force.  And ever since October 7^th they have been acting on those beliefs with a vengeance! Not that they didn’t do so before on occasion. But now it has become a much more common occurrence as reported on the PBS Newshour last night. (video below) 

A lot of right wing apologists will say that there is no such things as  ‘settler violence’ That any altercation between settlers and Palestinians on the West Bank is the result of innocent,Jewish settlers defending themselves after being attacked. Whenever a Palestinian on the West Bank is killed by a settler bullet. the refrain from these apologists is always ‘self defense’. That may be true some of the time. But setting Palestinian villages on fire (as in the video below) can hardly be called an act of self defense. 

For the sake of argument, let us say that every single incidence of a settler killing a Palestinian was a case of self defense. But when a group of settlers walks around with military grade weapons slung over their shoulder, approach a Palestinian village, and are rebuffed by a couple of stone throwing Palestinian teenagers, is it any surprise that a settler might defend himself by firing upon a stone thrower often using a slingshot whose force can be deadly?

I believe these settler types are of the second variety that wishes to expel all West Bank Arabs from Israel. They are very likely ardent followers of Rabbi Meir Kahane who advocated exactly that policy. They are his spiritual heirs and have sympathetic Knesset members that support them. (Like Ben-Gvir.)

This is why I am opposed to any new settlement activity on the West Bank. Not because we don’t have a right to live there. Of course we do. But being right in principle doesn’t always mean acting on it is right thing to do. Not even for those settlers whose intentions are peaceful. The violent settlers have ruined it for them. Making it impossible for Palestinians to see any kind of peaceful coexistence on the West Bank. They cannot trust us and don’t believe we belong there (or any part of Eretz Yisroel) anyway.   

I am opposed to new settlements  even as the current Israeli government seems to be increasingly approving them. The only kind of settlement activity that makes sense is accommodating the natural growth of existing settlements located mostly along the pre 67 borders.  But setting up shop near a Palestinian village on the West Bank is a bad idea.  Even for those with peaceful intentions. Aside from the fact that it incites Palestinian anger which increases deadly violence against us, it also upsets our closest ally, the US. And with the prospect of a Harris presidency becoming increasingly likely, that is something Israel ought not be doing.

What Israel must focus upon instead is its own security. Which, based on my opening remarks,  means maintaining a strong military and securing its borders.  And no Palestinian state in the near future. Until such time when Arabs (Palestinians in particular) stop teaching and promoting their centuries long Jew hatred - that cannot happen. And it will take at least a generation beyond that to eradicate the pre-existing Jew hatred. And even begin to think about a Palestinian state. Til then the status quo must stay in place

As for the violent settlers that are responsible for situations where they end up shooting Palestinian villagers or torching their villages - using October 7^th as their excuse… Throw them in jail and throw away the key. They are little more than murderers that should never be allowed to see the light of day again. And are a clear and present danger to the entirely of the Jewish people.