Israeli Settler Violence

Israeli settler violence refers to acts of violence committed by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and Israeli security forces, predominantly in the West Bank. Most West Bank settlers are "law abiding" (according to a senior Israeli army officer) and the vast majority are non-violent, but there has been a rise in violent acts by fringe extremists against Palestinians and Israel Police and IDF troops. In 2007 Israeli prosecutors determined that of 515 criminal suits relating to violent activity committed by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and Israeli security forces, 502 related to right wing Jewish settlers in the Occupied Territories. In 2008, the senior Israeli commander in the West Bank said that a hard core of a few hundred activists were involved in violence against the Palestinians and Israeli soldiers. Some prominent Jewish religious figures living in the occupied territories, as well as Israeli government officials, have condemned and expressed outrage over such behaviour. In the years 2008-2009, the defense establishment began taking a harder line against unruly settlers. An EU heads of mission report found that settler violence had more than tripled in the three years up to 2011.