The quiet war: What’s fueling Israel’s surge of settler violence – and the lack of state response
- Written by Arie Perliger, Director of Security Studies and Professor of Criminology and Justice Studies, UMass Lowell
Since Oct. 7, 2023, as Israel’s war against Hamas drags on in the Gaza Strip, a quieter but escalating war has unfolded in the West Bank between Israelis and Palestinians.
While precise figures are elusive, United Nations estimates indicate that Jewish settlers have carried out around 2,000 attacks[1] against Palestinians since the war in Gaza began[2]. That number represents a dramatic surge compared with any previous period[3] during the nearly six decades Israel has controlled the West Bank.
Attacks include harassment of Palestinian villagers trying to access their crops or work outside their villages, as well as more extreme and organized violence, such as raiding villages to vandalize property. While many of the attacks are unprovoked, some are what settlers call “price tag” actions[4]: retaliation for Palestinian violence[5] against Israelis, such as car-rammings, rock-throwing and stabbings.
Settlers’ attacks displaced more than 1,500 Palestinians in the first year of the war in Gaza[6], and gun violence is increasingly common[7]. Since October 2023, more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed[8]. While most of these fatalities resulted from military operations, some were killed by settlers.
As a scholar who has studied Jewish religious extremism for over two decades[10], I contend this campaign is not merely a result of rising tension between the settlers and their Palestinian neighbors amid the Gaza conflict. Rather, it is fueled by a confluence of ideological fervor, opportunism and far-right Israelis’ political vision for the region.
Religious redemption
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967’s Six-Day War against Egypt, Jordan and Syria, transforming this small region of around 2,000 square miles (5,200 square kilometers) to an amalgam of Jewish and Palestinian enclaves. Most countries other than Israel consider Jewish settlements illegal[11], but they have rapidly expanded[12] in recent decades, becoming a major challenge[13] for any settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The ideological roots of violence lie within religious Zionism[14]: a worldview embraced by about 20% of Israel’s Jewish population, including most West Bank settlers.
The great majority of the leaders of the early Zionist movement held strong secular views[15]. They pushed for the creation of a Jewish state over the objections of Orthodox figures, who argued that it should be a divine creation rather than a human-made polity.
Religious Zionists, on the other hand, view the creation of modern-day Israel and its military victories as steps in a divine redemption, which will culminate in a Jewish kingdom led by a heaven-sent Messiah[16]. Adherents believe contemporary events, particularly those asserting Jewish control over the entire historical land of Israel, can accelerate this process[17].
In recent decades, influential religious Zionist leaders have argued that final redemption requires Israel’s total military triumph and the annihilation of its enemies[18], particularly the Palestinian national movement. From this perspective, the devastation of Oct. 7 and the subsequent war are a divine test – one the nation can only pass by achieving a complete victory[19].
This belief system fuels most religious Zionists’ opposition to ending the war, as well as their advocacy for scorched-earth policies in Gaza[20]. Some hope to rebuild the Jewish settlements[21] in the strip that Israel evacuated in 2005[22].
The violence in the West Bank reflects an extension of the same beliefs. Extreme groups within the settler population[24] aim to solidify Jewish control by making Palestinian communities’ lives in the region unsustainable.
Opportunistic violence
Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre, which killed over 1,200 Israelis, traumatized the nation. It also hardened many Jewish Israelis’ conviction that a Palestinian state would be an existential threat, and thus Palestinians cannot be partners for peace[25].
This shift in sentiment created a permissive environment for violence. While settler attacks previously drew criticism from across the political spectrum, extremist violence faces less public condemnation today – as does the government’s lack of effort to curb it[26].
This increase in violence is also enabled by a climate of impunity. Israeli security forces have been stretched thin by operations in Gaza, Syria, Iran and beyond. In the West Bank, the military increasingly relies on settler militias known as “Emergency Squads[27],” which are armed by the Israeli military for self-defense, and army units composed primarily of religious Zionist settlers[28], such as the Netzah Yehuda Battalion. Such groups have little incentive to stop attacks on Palestinians, and at times, they have participated.
This dynamic has dangerously blurred the line between the state military and militant settlers. The Israeli police, meanwhile, under the command of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, appear focused on protecting settlers. Police leadership has been accused of ignoring intelligence about planned attacks[29] and failing to arrest violent settlers[30] or enforce restraining orders[31]. Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights group, asserts that just 3% of attacks have resulted in a conviction[32].
In June 2025, military attempts to curb settler militancy triggered a violent backlash[33], as extremist settlers attacked military commanders and tried to set fire to military facilities[34]. Settlers view efforts to restrict their actions as illegitimate and a betrayal of Jewish interests in the West Bank.
Political vision
Violence by extremist settlers is not random; it is one arm of a coordinated pincer strategy to entrench Jewish control over the West Bank.
Emergency volunteers put out a fire during an attack by Israeli right-wing settlers on the West Bank village of Turmusaya on June 26, 2025.
Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance via Getty Images[35]
While militant settlers create a climate of fear, Israeli authorities have undermined legal efforts to stop the violence – ending administrative detention for settler suspects[36], for example. Meanwhile, the government has intensified policies that undermine Palestinians’ economic development, freedom of movement[37] and land use. In May, finance minister and far-right leader Bezalel Smotrich approved 22 new settlements, calling it a “historic decision” that signaled a return to “construction, Zionism, and vision[38].”
Together, violence from below and policy from above advance a clear strategic goal: the coerced depopulation of Palestinians from rural areas to solidify Israeli sovereignty over the entire West Bank.
Levers for change
The militant elements of the settler movement constitute a fractional segment of Israeli society. When it comes to improving the situation in the West Bank, broad punitive measures against the entire country, such as economic boycotting and divestment[39], or blocking access to scientific, economic and cultural programs and organizations[40], have historically proved ineffective.
Instead, such policies seem to entrench many Israelis’ perception of international bias and double standards: the sense that critics are antisemitic, or that few outsiders understand the country’s challenges – particularly in light of threats from entitles like Iran[41], Hamas[42] and Hezbollah[43], which openly seek Israel’s elimination.
More targeted policies aim specifically at the Israeli far right, including sanctions – economic, political or cultural – directed at settler communities and their infrastructure. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway and the U.K. have imposed travel bans[44] on Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, and frozen their assets in those countries. Similarly, I believe decisions to ban goods produced in the West Bank settlements[45], as Ireland has recently debated, would be more effective than banning all Israeli products.
This targeted approach, I would argue, would allow the international community to cultivate stronger alliances with the many Israelis concerned about the settlements[46] and Palestinians’ rights in the West Bank.
References
- ^ around 2,000 attacks (www.aljazeera.com)
- ^ Palestinians since the war in Gaza began (www.ochaopt.org)
- ^ compared with any previous period (cup.columbia.edu)
- ^ price tag” actions (www.adl.org)
- ^ Palestinian violence (www.gov.il)
- ^ displaced more than 1,500 Palestinians in the first year of the war in Gaza (www.ochaopt.org)
- ^ gun violence is increasingly common (acleddata.com)
- ^ have been killed (www.ochaopt.org)
- ^ AP Photo/Leo Correa (newsroom.ap.org)
- ^ studied Jewish religious extremism for over two decades (scholar.google.com)
- ^ consider Jewish settlements illegal (apnews.com)
- ^ have rapidly expanded (www.bbc.com)
- ^ a major challenge (www.pewresearch.org)
- ^ religious Zionism (www.resetdoc.org)
- ^ held strong secular views (www.myjewishlearning.com)
- ^ culminate in a Jewish kingdom led by a heaven-sent Messiah (doi.org)
- ^ can accelerate this process (www.nytimes.com)
- ^ the annihilation of its enemies (www.theguardian.com)
- ^ a complete victory (www.jpost.com)
- ^ their advocacy for scorched-earth policies in Gaza (www.reuters.com)
- ^ rebuild the Jewish settlements (www.theguardian.com)
- ^ evacuated in 2005 (doi.org)
- ^ Sally Hayden/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images (www.gettyimages.com)
- ^ Extreme groups within the settler population (www.shomrim.news)
- ^ cannot be partners for peace (www.pewresearch.org)
- ^ lack of effort to curb it (www.mei.edu)
- ^ settler militias known as “Emergency Squads (acleddata.com)
- ^ composed primarily of religious Zionist settlers (www.haaretz.com)
- ^ ignoring intelligence about planned attacks (www.haaretz.com)
- ^ failing to arrest violent settlers (www.haaretz.com)
- ^ enforce restraining orders (www.haaretz.com)
- ^ just 3% of attacks have resulted in a conviction (www.nytimes.com)
- ^ triggered a violent backlash (www.pbs.org)
- ^ attacked military commanders and tried to set fire to military facilities (www.cnn.com)
- ^ Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance via Getty Images (www.gettyimages.com)
- ^ ending administrative detention for settler suspects (www.timesofisrael.com)
- ^ freedom of movement (www.ochaopt.org)
- ^ historic decision” that signaled a return to “construction, Zionism, and vision (time.com)
- ^ economic boycotting and divestment (diplomatist.com)
- ^ scientific, economic and cultural programs and organizations (www.theguardian.com)
- ^ like Iran (www.yahoo.com)
- ^ Hamas (www.wilsoncenter.org)
- ^ and Hezbollah (www.cfr.org)
- ^ have imposed travel bans (time.com)
- ^ ban goods produced in the West Bank settlements (www.jpost.com)
- ^ concerned about the settlements (www.pewresearch.org)
Authors: Arie Perliger, Director of Security Studies and Professor of Criminology and Justice Studies, UMass Lowell
