Every day we act out our determination to survive and flourish in our homeland. Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, and others are determined to destroy us. At this time when we so desperately need solidarity, strength, and resilience, we also desperately need a collective commitment to our Jewish ethical foundations. For if we are not a people of high ethical standards, we don’t deserve to be here. As the Torah says:

[ויקרא י”ח, כ”ח]”הגוי אשר לפניכם. הארץ אתכם בטמאכם אתה כאשר קאה את “ולא תקיא

“Do not defile the land or the land will vomit you out as it vomited out your predecessors.”

Every day we read of heinous acts of violence perpetrated by Jews against Palestinian Arabs in Judea and Samaria (AKA West Bank). They defile the land. Every senseless act of violence further erodes our legitimacy. These acts harm not only their victims. These acts are catastrophic for Israel and the Jewish people. Less important than the collapse of Jewish values it represents, but still important, these actions reinforce the world’s belief that Israel has become a barbaric state. They give support and sustenance to our enemies by feeding ammunition to anti-Semites. And decent people around the world who were neutral or even supportive of our vision of reclaiming our homeland have turned against us. Virtually the entire Democratic party, poised to regain control of the United States Congress, has turned against us as have vast numbers of American Jews, especially younger Jews.

A sample of shameful recent headlines:

At least 3 Palestinians hospitalized in multiple settler attacks on West Bank villages (TOI, April 6, 20260

Four Palestinians said wounded by settler assailants in West Bank village of Tayasir (TOI, April 1,2026)

Settlers attack several Palestinian villages, 2 reported injured; no arrests made (TOI, March 29, 2026)

Palestinian Killed, 14 Wounded in Settler Raids, 5 Outposts Erected in One Night (Haaretz, March 27)

Five Palestinians reportedly wounded in settler attack near village outside Jerusalem (TOI, March 25, 2026)

10 reported injured as settlers torch cars, property in West Bank Palestinian town (TOI, March 24, 2026)

Dozens of extremist settlers beat Palestinians; burn homes, cars in revenge attacks (TOI, March 23, 2026)

There is a steadily increasing crescendo of violence: murder, beatings, destruction of property. The extremists ignore the most basic norms of Judaism. They uproot olive trees in direct violation of a biblical prohibition.

“.כִּֽי־תָצ֣וּר אֶל־עִיר֩ יָמִ֨ים רַבִּ֜ים לְֽהִלָּחֵ֧ם עָלֶ֣יהָ לְתִפְשָׂ֗הּ לֹֽא־תַשְׁחִ֤ית אֶת־עֵצָהּ֙ לִנְדֹּ֤חַ עָלָיו֙ גַּרְזֶ֔ן כִּ֚י מִמֶּ֣נּוּ תֹאכֵ֔ל וְאֹת֖וֹ לֹ֣א תִכְרֹ֑ת כִּ֤י הָֽאָדָם֙ עֵ֣ץ הַשָּׂדֶ֔ה לָבֹ֥א מִפָּנֶ֖יךָ בַּמָּצֽוֹר׃(דברים כ’, י”ט)

“When in your war against a city you have to besiege it a long time in order to capture it, you must not destroy its trees, wielding the ax against them. You may eat of them, but you must not cut them down.”

The vast majority of Israelis seem indifferent to this shameful campaign. In a Pew study in June of 2024, only 19% of Israeli Jews were concerned about rising violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Perhaps our sense of compassion has been deadened by the atrocities of October 7th. Perhaps we are distracted by our shelter-centric lives.

But there have been those who have spoken out. On January 26, 2026, in an interview in the Times of Israel, Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein, co-head of Yeshivat Har Etzion made a powerful statement: “The violence that is going on is horrible and is morally and ethically wrong,” arguing that “extremist settler violence must be stopped from the pulpit.” Avidan Freedman wrote about his heart-rending visit to Humsa, the site of a vicious attack on March 12th, together with Rabbi Yehuda Gilad, Rosh Yeshiva of Maale Adumim, and Rabba Ruti Baidaich and Tzvika Novick. Parenthetically, of the many rabbis he invited to join them, only Rabbi Gilad agreed.(TOI Blogs, March 19, 2026). On the same day, Rabbi Kenneth Brander, President and Rosh HaYeshiva of Ohr Torah Stone wrote Violence against Palestinians betrays the Torah – The Blogs.

And on March 26,   over 1,000 Diaspora leaders urged action against Jewish-extremist terror in West Bank. In a letter to President Herzog, they condemn settler violence as “not only morally shameful but a strategic threat” to Israel’s future, and lament the lack of government action while calling on the president to intervene. (TOI)

In a long interview in Haaretz (April 10, 2026), a publication he “really doesn’t like, ”  Pinchas Wallerstein, a former director-general of the Yesha (Judea and Samaria) Council, calls violence of Palestinians by Jews “treason against the State of Israel, nothing less. These acts are unforgiveable.”

Organizations such as Yesh Din, The Association for Civil Rights in Israel. Breaking the Silence, B’Tselem and Rabbis for Human Rights have been active in documenting and protesting against settler violence.

Some say that we are all complicit. Perhaps. But some of us are more complicit than others. The residents of Judea and Samaria  stand silently by, and perhaps even watch with approval, as their neighbors head out to do their terrible deeds.  Where are the rabbis, teachers, and families of hilltop youth?

With a few exceptions, such as Wallerstein, the leadership of the settlement movement who should see that this activity hurts their own agenda are busy making excuses or are in denial.

The voices of denial have two themes: First, they are fond of saying that only a small percentage of the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria are involved in terrorism. And therefore, we need not take it so seriously. The arithmetic is correct, but the logic is flawed. If the residents of 20 or 30 settlements and outposts account for most of the violence, that is indeed only 6% to 9% of the 340 Jewish places in Judea and Samaria. The percentage of individuals is even smaller. If 300 to  500 individuals are engaged in acts of violence, that is less than 1/10 of 1% of the Jewish residents of the West Bank. But that is precisely the point. This should be a manageable problem. If the police force were not under the leadership of a supporter of violence against Palestinian Arabs, all 300 to 500 would be arrested tomorrow. The head of the Shin  Bet has decided – in opposition to the evidence –  that there is no settler violence, only friction between Jews and Arabs, thus making the Shin Bet irrelevant. While the leadership of the IDF has come out against settler violence, the troops on the ground often seem to stand idly by, while terror is perpetrated.

The other voice of denial focuses on Palestinian violence against Jews.  They say that Jewish terrorism against Arabs is OK because Arab terrorism against Jews is a fact of life in the West Bank, including shootings, Molotov cocktails, pipe-bombs, and rock-throwing. Does one set of crimes justify another? Were we taught to establish courts of law to deal with wrong-doing or to maim children? But on a more practical level, Arab terrorism is, appropriately, met with the full weight of Israel’s formidable security forces. The response to Jewish terrorism is tepid. Two illustrations of the impact of this difference: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that in January, 2026 there were 312 terrorist attacks in Israel with 321 arrests, including 295 in the West Bank.  By contrast, in the first half of 2025, in an environment where attacks are rarely reported, 404 complaints  were filed about Jewish violence in the West Bank, 156 investigations opened, and only 24 arrests were made (Institute for National Security Studies).

We are far beyond the point where rhetoric is going to make a difference. And with all due respect to Rabbi Lichtenstein and others — sermons, statements, and conferences are not changing reality on the ground.  An action program is needed. Some of the elements of such a program include:

Every decent Israeli should throw their full support behind those who oppose this chilul hashem [desecration of God’s name] with extraordinary kiddush hashem [sanctification of God’s name] — risking their lives to interpose themselves between the violent perpetrators and their victims. I am thinking of groups such as Bnei Avraham of the S’mol Emuni movement or  Torat Tzedek led by Rabbi Arik Ascherman as well as other groups who have been out there protecting and comforting Palestinian victims. Those brave enough should volunteer to go with them. For those who are unable to put their bodies on the line, they should provide financial support. The leaders of the Yeshiva world who have spoken out  against this Jewish outrage, should encourage their students to go out into the field to support these groups.

The settlements, outposts, and farms that house the perpetrators of violence are well known to the authorities and to social activists. The list should be published. The residents of these places have placed themselves outside the bounds of normative Judaism. They have cast themselves in the mold of Sodom. They have forfeited the right to be accepted in the community. They should be shunned. The rabbinic leadership of Judea and Samaria should declare a charem [boycott] applied to all residents of violence-prone settlements, outposts, and farms. No one should sell them food or supplies, repair their vehicles or their homes, allow them to worship in synagogues.

The IDF should set up a machsom [barrier] outside the entrance to every known violence-prone settlement, outpost, and farm. Every group that goes out on the road should be searched, and weapons confiscated. They have forfeited the right to bear arms except for self-defense in their own homes.

The nice people in Efrat and elsewhere in Judea and Samaria who voted for Ben-Gvir and Smotrich and their followers in the last election need to do teshuva [repent]. The kipa seruga [knitted skullcap] is not enough of a reason to support Kahanists who endanger us every day by their actions and statements. They need to face the fact that supporting fascists only harms the State of Israel, and ultimately endangers their own lives and the lives of their children and grandchildren. Removing tacit political support for settler violence is the surest road to ending this nightmare.

It is inconceivable that a small band of outlaws is being allowed to destroy any hope we have of ever living alongside those whose narrative for this land is different than our own. Misguided or malevolent, they do not have the right to destroy my dream for a secure and humane Israel.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)