The Shin Bet is failing to take settler violence seriously, a senior Israeli military official complained to Israeli television on Friday, as attacks across the West Bank continue on a daily basis with almost complete impunity.

There is a dedicated department within the Shin Bet whose job is to thwart such violence, but the military official speaking with Channel 12 news said the Jewish Division had been “doing very little — the minimum.”

“Someone wants the Jewish Division to be weak. They’re not providing us with intelligence or early warnings,” the military official said.

The official reiterated warnings that the situation in the West Bank was on the verge of spiraling out of control, with more and more illegal outposts being established by settlers.

Five new outposts were established in the central West Bank just in the last week, with the Israel Defense Forces struggling to secure all of these different communities and prevent confrontations between settlers and Palestinians.

Each outpost that is demolished is rebuilt immediately afterward. Just in the last year, outposts were demolished only to be quickly rebuilt 160 different times, the military official told Channel 12.

The official noted the upcoming olive harvest season, which regularly sees settlers trying to prevent Palestinians from accessing their lands.

“It seems that there are those who prefer that the current situation continues,” the official said, lamenting efforts by far-right politicians to negatively influence the situation on the ground.

The official said ultra-nationalist rabbis were also issuing directives allowing settlers to drive on Shabbat to participate in raids of Palestinian villages, as was seen last week in the northern West Bank town of Qusra.

Soldiers who were supposed to be resting or training are instead being deployed to the West Bank to try and prevent clashes between extremist settlers and Palestinians, the official added.

The television report came as settler violence has surged in recent months, with near-daily, sometimes deadly attacks taking place throughout the West Bank, though few suspects arrested and charged. Critics accuse the government of condoning or even encouraging the attacks.

Shin Bet chief David Zini, a self-described “messianic” former general affiliated with the ultraconservative Har HaMor yeshiva, has cut the Jewish Department’s resources since taking over as head of the security agency last year, downplayed settler violence as cases of “friction” and recommended the use of electronic........

© The Times of Israel