In a stunning move mid-war, the IDF on Monday announced that it is diverting forces from the invasion of Lebanon to the West Bank to rein in Jewish violence against Palestinians in recent weeks.
In the past, there were times when the critical northern and southern fronts were quiet, and more soldiers were sent to Judea and Samaria to bring Palestinian terror under control.
However, this is the first time during a critical invasion – in this case, against Hezbollah in Lebanon – that IDF soldiers were diverted to what is viewed as a less dangerous front in the West Bank. This is because Jewish violence against Palestinians has hit such large volumes that IDF Central Command Chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth did not believe he had sufficient forces to restore order.
According to IDF sources, the decision required special approval from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
To obtain approval, multiple IDF commanders based in Judea and Samaria pleaded with Netanyahu to grant them more manpower to handle the large-scale problem.
Netanyahu taken little action to reduce Jewish violence
Currently, Netanyahu has not made a public statement about the issue.
In fact, during his current term, Netanyahu has hardly made any public moves to reduce Jewish violence against Palestinians; he has only done so when pressured by top American officials in the Biden or Trump administrations.
Defense Minister Israel Katz has said even less about the issue, though his predecessors would generally condemn such violence when requested by IDF Central Command.
Bluth has said that the violence was caused by a mere 200-300 anarchists. Despite this, Bluth’s thousands of soldiers, whose primary mission is security for Jewish settlements and stifling Palestinian terror, have failed to stop the recent spread and growth of Jewish violence against Palestinians.
Soldiers preemptively deployed
On Sunday night, The Jerusalem Post was told by IDF sources that they had preemptively deployed soldiers in areas designed to prevent Jewish extremists from being able to attack Palestinians, and yet those forces still failed in that mission.
There were dozens of anti-Palestinian incidents on Sunday night, with the IDF acknowledging some of the incidents and its inability to prevent them from occurring.
IDF sources have also made it clear that they feel unable to put down the wave of Jewish violence against Palestinians without the full support of the police, the Shin Bet, the courts, and the government.
Last week, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir said that terror incidents in the West Bank were among the lowest seen in the past year, while warning that Jewish nationalist crime against Palestinians by a “threatening minority from within” was harming Israel’s security during the war.
While Zamir credited the “offensive and professional activity” of the Central Command, he noted that commanders’ first duty is to continue maintaining a high level of alertness, strong protection of communities, and a determined and uncompromising war on terror, including Jewish violence against Palestinians.
He called on state authorities “to come out against this phenomenon and cut it off before it is too late.”
“Anyone who thinks these actions help security is mistaken. They are morally and ethically wrong, and they create extraordinary strategic damage to the IDF’s efforts,” he said.
“It cannot be that, during a multi-front war, the IDF is forced to contend with a threatening minority from within,” he said. “These are rioters who do not represent the settlement movement. On the contrary, they endanger the settlement enterprise, security stability, and our values as a people and as a state.”
He also said there was “no place in public discourse for statements or incitement against commanders who work every day to eradicate terror and safeguard Israel’s security.”
Analyzing the timing of the spike in violent Jewish attacks last week, sources said that the Jewish holiday of Purim, in which Jewish Persians fought supporters of the anti-Jewish royal advisor Haman and, in some narratives, against descendants of the biblical Amalekites, may be being used to create a storm.
IDF sources warned that some Jewish religious thinkers have recently published articles to seemingly encourage unruly Jewish youth to take matters into their own hands to “solve problems” with the Palestinians in the West Bank, “just as” the IDF has attacked Hamas in Gaza and the Islamic regime in Iran.
The military completely rejects this ideology. The IDF is authorized to fight Iran and Hamas, both of whom are active terror platforms and promoters, whereas the 200-300 Jewish anarchists have been attacking innocent Palestinians.
However, IDF sources told the Post their ability to combat the situation is limited by their mission, the law, and the need for help from law enforcement partners.
Current IDF officers will not publicly criticize National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s impact on the police or Katz, but former IDF officers and former police officials have lambasted them both.
They have slammed Ben-Gvir, stating that he was openly discouraging police from making arrests or investigating Jewish violence against Palestinians.
A family of innocent Palestinians, including two children, was mistakenly killed by Israeli border police on March 14.
Nearly 10 days later, the border police have yet to be questioned.
The Post understands that the department for probing police misconduct believes it has enough evidence to make a decision regarding the conduct of the police in the case (though it is unusual to make such a decision without questioning those involved in a killing), and may render a decision in the coming week or so.
However, the failure to question the officers involved has been presented as another example of blocking accountability for harm against West Bank Palestinians.
Furthermore, they have blasted Katz for ending the administrative detention of the most violent Jews in January 2025.
They have said that Jewish violence has spiked since then because Katz took away a major tool, which is used more often 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 have been given 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 people whom the IDF believed were threats and who had evidence against them were released by various court orders.
Moreover, when these people violate restraining orders or house arrest terms, the courts, at worst, just reinstate the same order or house arrest; they do not hand down punishments that might deter further violence.
In addition, the Post has learned that many such persons have received detailed guidance on how to avoid criminal trouble during interrogation.
Collectively, IDF sources said that only a multi-faceted approach by all arms of law enforcement, the courts, and the political echelon can rein in the problem.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.