Surging ‘Jewish terrorism’ in West Bank condemned but goes unpunished

Violence by extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank has reached unprecedented levels since the start of the war with Iran, with NGOs and opposition figures denouncing an environment of impunity.While so-called “Jewish terrorism” has drawn widespread condemnation both in Israel and abroad, little has been done to curb it.Assaults by violent settlers against Palestinians have been carried out for years, often to the indifference of mainstream Israeli society.But the recent surge has prompted criticism from influential rabbis, settler leaders and even military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, who described the attacks as “morally and ethically unacceptable”.Palestinians inspect the damage in the West Bank village of Deir al-Hatab, east of Nablus, following an attack by Israeli settlers. Photo: EPAAccording to Reem Cohen, a researcher at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), “there has been an increase in acts of Jewish terrorism since the start of the war with Iran”, along with a rise in “the severity of the acts”.