U.S. sanctions 3 Israeli West Bank settlers and their outposts for violence against Palestinians
PBS NewsHourMar 26
Report: Israeli Soldiers 'Did Nothing' to Prevent Settler Raid in West Bank
Above: The Israeli army places Israeli flags outside the homes of Palestinian residents in the H2 area on June 08, 2024 in Hebron, West Bank. Image copyright: Alessandro Levat/Contributror/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
The Israeli news outlet Haaretz reported on Saturday that an internal preliminary investigation had found that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reservists "did nothing" to stop a deadly settler raid in the West Bank Palestinian village of Jit.
Neither the IDF nor Shin Bet had intelligence on the incident in advance, according to a senior security official, but a Home Front Command unit allegedly arrived shortly after its beginning and "stood by" watching the rampage unfold.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Though settlements are neither the origin nor the cause of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the sitting Israeli government must do more to curb escalating settler violence in the West Bank. The US is always willing to accommodate Israel's security concerns, but Israel must also be willing to work with the US and curb extremism so that a durable peace to this conflict can be realized.
Pro-Palestine narrative
Israel continues to show its complicity in the settler movement, which is primarily motivated by the desire to permanently expel Palestinians from their land and dash any hope of a Palestinian state. Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank were brutal before Oct. 7, and now Palestinians are being killed and displaced at an unprecedented rate. Nothing excuses the endemic violence Israelis have unleashed in the West Bank, and the situation is only getting worse.
Pro-Israel narrative
While a tiny minority of Jewish communities in the West Bank, which they refer to as Judea and Samaria due to the region's ancient history, do commit violence against Palestinians, the pernicious myth of "settler violence" creates a morally abhorrent equivalence with Hamas' terrorism. Since Oct. 7, incidents of "settler violence" have reduced, in contrast to mounting Palestinian terrorist attacks. Yet, the media is only interested in violence committed by Israelis.