In a letter to IDF Central Commander Maj.-Gen. Avi Bluth announced on Monday that Commanders for Israel’s Security (CIS) warned the commander that there has recently been a grave rise in deadly Jewish violence against Palestinians.
Further, the NGO, which represents over 600 former senior defense officials, mostly from the political Center and some from the political Left, said that Bluth and the IDF have not sufficiently confronted the problem.
They said that if the trend is not pushed back, it will harm Israeli national security by leading to even more Palestinian terror, and that will harm Israel’s diplomatic stature and interests globally.
In the letter, CIS said that previously, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Matan Vilnai and former Mossad chief Danny Yatom met with Bluth months ago, “following alarming reports from colleagues in the field and various other sources regarding violent activity and terrorism by Jewish rioters against Palestinians in the West Bank.”
“We were primarily concerned by what appeared to be the IDF’s failure to prevent, thwart, and effectively address the issue, as well as the deliberate absence of action by the Israel Police,” said CIS.
Next, they wrote, “To our regret and concern, Jewish violence and terrorism have since further intensified, becoming a daily, permanent, and terrifying phenomenon. We receive these reports from field sources, the media, and firsthand reports from colleagues on the ground.”
This is not a matter of a few rioters or 'wild weeds'
In addition, they said, “This is not a matter of a few rioters or ‘wild weeds.’ These violent acts are backed by an organized system with various layers of institutional hierarchy. This system has clear objectives: to clear significant areas of Palestinian presence through threats, severe harm to life and property, and outright riots.”
“These rioters have attacked IDF soldiers and property as well as Israeli civilians who volunteer to deter those very brutal acts,” added CIS.
Next, they said, “We are mindful of the excellent and determined effort you lead against Palestinian terrorism, particularly Hamas’… Conversely, it exposes the total failure of those same agencies in dealing with Jewish terror and violence. It appears that under your command, the IDF lacks the determination to act.”
CIS stated, “Not only is there no apparent inter-agency cooperation against Jewish terror, but worse yet, we have found evidence of a tendency to look the other way and at times, of individuals in uniform (whether authentic or under false guise) collaborating and participating in these violent acts.”
According to CIS, “Assuming that all this can go unnoticed while all attention is on other fronts is as reckless as treating it as a marginal phenomenon or assuming that dealing with it can be postponed for ‘the day after.’”
In addition, CIS cautioned that Jewish “violence and terror radicalize Palestinians, sending them to arm and join Hamas and other terror organizations. It replicates the logic – and threatens to produce the result – of the transfer of funds to Hamas prior to October 7.”
Moreover, they said, “There may be political or ideological elements aiming to set the area ablaze, to drag the IDF into a full-scale war in the West Bank, and to create an outcome resembling Gaza. Such a policy would be a devastating blow to our national security. It must be stopped.”
'Causes enormous damage to the State of Israel'
The phenomenon “causes enormous damage to the State of Israel within the international community and Jewish Diaspora. And failing to deal forcefully with Jewish terror places every IDF soldier traveling abroad at legal risk,” they warned.
Responding, IDF sources told The Jerusalem Post did not deny that there has been a spike recently in Jewish violence, including deadly violence, against Palestinians.
Sources said that the issue was not being ignored, and that the IDF was doing what it can, within its limited authority to block or reduce such attacks.
IDF sources told the Post that violent Jewish attackers against Palestinians are going against Jewish values, which hold that all human beings are created in the image of the divine.
Analyzing the timing of the spike in violent Jewish attacks, sources said that the Jewish holiday of Purim in which, historically, Jewish Persians fought supporters of the anti-Jewish royal advisor Haman and against descendants of the biblical Amalekites, may be being used to create a storm.
IDF sources warned that some Jewish religious thinkers had recently published articles to seemingly encourage unruly young Jewish youth to take matters into their own hands to attack and “solve problems” with the Palestinians in the West Bank “just as” the IDF attacked Hamas in Gaza and the Islamic regime in Iran.
The military completely rejects such an ideology, given that the IDF is authorized to fight Iran and Hamas, which are active arch-terror platforms and promoters, whereas 200 to 300 violent Jewish anarchists have been attacking innocent Palestinians.
However, IDF sources told the Post that their powers to combat the phenomenon were limited by mission, law, and the need for help from law enforcement partners.
Currently serving IDF officers will not publicly criticize National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s impact on the police or Defense Minister Israel Katz, but former IDF officers, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) until recently, and former police officials have slammed both.
They have criticized National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for openly discouraging police from arresting or probing Jewish violence against Palestinians.
Further, they have blasted Katz for ending the administrative detention of even the most violent Jews in January 2025.
They have also said that Jewish violence has spiked since then because Katz took away a major tool – which is used much more with Palestinians – to reduce Jewish violence. Many alternative tools have been tried, such as passing regulations determining that anyone, including Jews, wearing a facemask in the West Bank, can be arrested and convicted, as well as increasing restraining orders against travel to the West Bank, and using electronic ankle cuffs to limit and track certain individuals’ movements.
Yet, IDF sources said that only three Jewish anarchists had been slapped with electronic ankle cuffs, and even some of those have figured out ways to outsmart the system.
In addition, the Post understands that the courts have been extremely lenient with cases relating to Jewish violence against Palestinians.
Just recently, three such persons, whom the IDF believed were threats and who had evidence against them, were released by various court orders.
Moreover, when such persons violate restraining orders or house arrest terms, the courts, at worst, just reinstate the same order or house arrest, and issue no more severe consequences which might deter further violent actions.
In addition, the Post has learned that many such persons have been given detailed guidance about how to avoid getting into criminal trouble when they are interrogated.
Collectively, IDF sources said that only a multi-faceted, all-in approach by all arms of law enforcement, the courts, and the political echelon can rein in the problem.