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On June 10, the Israeli State Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment against a 16-year-old Jewish minor for a racially motivated attack on a dog belonging to a Palestinian family. West Bank District Police Commander Moshe Pinchi – who, on a daily basis, implements National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s promise to grant impunity to the “Hilltop Youth,” and under whose command, since he took office in September 2024, pogroms and acts of Jewish terrorism have unfolded incessantly – told the media: “This is a severe and shocking case of cruel animal abuse, an act that violates the most basic human values and provokes revulsion and horror across all sectors of society, regardless of community, religion, ethnicity, or nationality. I would like to express my appreciation to the commanders and officers of the task force headquarters, who acted with determination, professionalism, and dedication.”

In contrast to the dog’s case, in the rare instances when indictments are filed against Jews who attack Palestinian civilians, they generally do not include a racist motive. It is as though far-right activists simply choose people at random to assault – without regard to religion or ethnicity – and, by sheer coincidence, the victims are always Palestinians rather than Jews.

From the outset, at the very investigative stage, when a Palestinian attacks a Jew, the incident is automatically treated as a terrorism case, with substantial personnel and investigative resources assigned to it. By contrast, when a Jew attacks a Palestinian, the case is usually handled as an ordinary criminal matter and given low priority – unless proven otherwise. By the time the police and prosecutors are “convinced” that an incident was nationalist and racist in nature, it is often........

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