Israeli Army Avoids Confronting Settler Violence

The Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) Central Command set a precedent by deciding to stop providing security for the West Bank settlement of Bat Ayin in the Gush Etzion settlement cluster. The decision came after anonymous masked men attacked soldiers at the settlement's gates. The incident started when the assailants tried to attack a Palestinian truck driver who got caught there. In order to prevent IDF troops from intervening, the masked men fired pepper spray at the soldiers.

Violence by settlers against the IDF soldiers is nothing new. For anyone familiar with the relationship between the army and the settlers, the real questions should be: How long will these sanctions last? A month? Two weeks? A week? Or maybe it will just be for a couple of days.

Bat Ayin is a religious settlement on the western slopes of Gush Etzion, 800 meters above sea level. Many of the settlers are newly-religious Jews, affiliated with the Breslov and Chabad Hassidic sects, who came to build their homes on this towering hilltop, overlooking a stretch of territory that extends from the towns of the Negev Desert in the south all the way to Tel Aviv in the west. Most of the settlements in the West Bank were established on higher points of ground, which offer strategic control of the surrounding area. The settlements also offer a better quality of life and a stunning view from just about every home.

It wasn’t the stunning view that made Bat Ayin famous, however. The settlement gained notoriety in 2003 after an underground Jewish terrorist group was discovered there, consisting of local residents for the most part. The Bat Ayin underground members were caught after they planted a bomb outside a girls’ school in East Jerusalem. They were sentenced to 15 years in jail, and the settlement from which they emerged became synonymous with fanatical extremism and violence against Palestinians.