New York Times columnist Bret Stephens (whom I greatly admire) is a staunch Zionist and defender of Israel, but even he jumped on the settler violence bandwagon with a column from July 28 titled “A Blunt Warning for Israel,” in which he expressed his dismay over settler violence and the damage it’s inflicting on the Zionist problem. He quoted from a letter that Matan Vilnai, a retired deputy chief of staff of the IDF, wrote to President Donald Trump, saying that although the IDF excels at squashing terrorism on its military fronts, the government has constrained the military from acting to suppress settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Vilnai warned that the failure to act threatens the security of Israel and the interests of the United States in the region. 

Stephens agreed, writing that “Anyone who cares about Israel’s well-being shouldn’t be silent about anti-Palestinian settler terrorism in the West Bank and the nothing-much-to-see-here policy of Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister. That’s not only because the terrorism is a menace to Palestinian lives and property, or an affront to Jewish ethics, or a stain on Israel’s reputation — though it’s all those things. It’s also a direct threat to Israel’s security and statehood, and thus to Zionism itself.” 

He then went on to detail the sharp rise in settler violence, citing statistics that showed an increase of 682 incidents in 2025 over the previous year. 

For the record, I agree with everything Stephens wrote. Settler violence, which I too call terrorism, is a disgrace and a shanda and a chillul Hashem. 

But Stephens is looking at this all wrong. And so is Vilnai, well-intentioned though he may be. 

The first thing that jumped out at me when I read about Vilnai’s letter is that we Jews have been down this road before — many times before, in fact. Here are three examples that barely represent the tip of the “we are our own worst enemy” iceberg. 

After the death of their mother, the Hasmonean Queen Salome, brothers Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II fought over the throne. Their followers formed factions and appealed to the Roman general, Pompey. Yet a third faction appealed to Pompey to abolish the monarchy altogether. 

The consequences of appealing to an outside authority have reverberated through the generations. Pompey supported the cause of Aristobulus, marched on Jerusalem, besieged it, captured it, and brought Jerusalem under Roman dominion in 63 CE. Involving Pompey in their dispute cost the Jews their independence from Rome. 

Just seven years later, the Temple would be destroyed and the Jews driven into exile. And that’s why we are where we are. 

Fast forward a millennium or so, to the 13th century. Maimonides’ books on philosophy, drawing from Greek sources, caused a stir in the Jewish community. Some thought they were great. Others........

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