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Influential Israeli rabbi condemns settler attacks on Palestinians
A prominent West Bank rabbi condemned settler violence after four Palestinians were killed over the past few days, urging youth to reject attacks as immoral.
Israeli settler attacks have been on the rise since the Gaza war began in 2023 [Getty]
An influential Israeli rabbi from the occupied West Bank with links to the far-right on Monday publicly denounced settler attacks on Palestinians in a rare intervention after four Palestinians were killed.
Rabbi Elyakim Levanon wrote in an open letter addressed to local youth that "damage to property and, even more so, to any person, Jewish or non-Jewish, is an immoral act".
Palestinian authorities and the Israeli army on Sunday said three Palestinians were killed in a settler attack on their village in the West Bank.
The day before, another Palestinian man was killed by settlers in a separate attack, the Ramallah-based health ministry said.
The spate of deadly incidents comes against a backdrop of soaring violence in the West Bank.
Levanon, who served as rabbi in a settlement and has close ties to Israeli far-right parties, urged the youth to "put all your strength into good, into building and into positive actions".
Major General Avi Bluth, head of the Israeli military in the West Bank, who had also condemned the incident in which the three men were killed, previously warned there would be "zero tolerance for civilians who take the law into their own hands".
Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has risen sharply since the Gaza war. It has continued despite the ceasefire.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 1,043 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the war, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures.
At least 45 Israelis, including both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to official Israeli figures.
Most settlers are not involved in this violence, but groups of several hundred young people regularly carry out attacks against Palestinians.
In addition to roughly three million Palestinians, more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements and outposts in the West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law.
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