Who are the Jewish settler terror groups driving the West Bank pogroms?

Israeli settlers are rampaging through the occupied West Bank, carrying out armed pogroms aimed at driving Palestinians from their land.

On Tuesday, the UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Ramiz Alekperov, warned the UN Security Council that the settler attacks are kindling a large-scale escalation.

More than 780,000 Israeli settlers now live across roughly 542 settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank, with authorities and extremist groups continuing to push for further expansion.

Behind the violence, a network of settler organisations inspired by Jewish extremist ideologues has played an increasingly prominent role in organising attacks that have killed at least 76 Palestinians this year.

Lehava

Lehava is one of Israel's largest extremist settler groups, founded in 1999 by Bentzi Gopstein. The group draws inspiration from the late rabbi and convicted terrorist Meir Kahane, who founded the ultranationalist Kach party. Gopstein runs a Telegram channel with thousands of followers where he shares Kahane's quotes, according to a report by The Wire.

Gopstein was convicted in 2024 of inciting anti-Arab racism over remarks made a decade earlier in which he described Palestinians as "cancer".

Both Gopstein and Lehava were sanctioned by the US State Department in 2024. The group has also been sanctioned by the United Kingdom, the European Union and Canada.

Lehava reportedly has more than 100,000 members and openly advocates for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their land. Lahav is closely associated with Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power)  party, with significant crossover between members of the far-right party and the group.

Anat Gopstein, the wife of Lehava's founder, is a prominent activist in Otzma Yehudit.

The Hilltop Youth

The Hilltop Youth operates in small cells of settlers who seize Palestinian land to establish illegal outposts and carry out attacks on nearby communities.

The group emerged after former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon urged settlers to seize hilltops across the occupied West Bank.

Members of the Hilltop Youth were involved in the 2015 Duma arson attack, which killed 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh and his parents. Member Amiram Ben-Uliel was convicted of the murders in 2020 and sentenced to three life terms.

During the trial, settlers gathered outside the courthouse chanting slogans including: "Where is Ali? Ali's dead, Ali's on the grill."

The group was also sanctioned by the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union in 2024.

Some members later splintered into the "Rebellion" movement led by Meir Ettinger, a grandson of Meir Kahane.

The extremist group has since been linked to dozens of attacks on Palestinian communities across the occupied West Bank.

'Price Tag'

The Price Tag movement is a loose network of extremist settler groups linked to religious seminaries in the Yitzhar settlement near Nablus.

The group uses attacks on Palestinians and their property to exact a "price" for actions taken by Israeli authorities against illegal settlement construction.

The group regularly carries out arson attacks, stone-throwing, the uprooting of olive trees and assaults on Palestinians and left-wing Israeli activists.

Netzah Yehuda Battalion

The Netzah Yehuda Battalion, formed for the integration of Orthodox Jews in the army, has been accused of committing grave violations against Palestinians.

The battalion has escorted settlers carrying out pogroms against Palestinians, with members participating in the attacks.

In 2024, the US State Department concluded that five Israeli military units had committed gross human rights violations against Palestinians, but later said four had "effectively remediated" their conduct. Although Washington considered sanctions against Netzah Yehuda, it ultimately took no further action.

'This Land Is Ours'

Settlers led by far-right politician and rabbi Moshe Feiglin advocate for the expansion of settlements, with Feiglin promoting the idea that the entirety of Palestine belongs to Jews exclusively.

Feiglin's followers have established outposts on at least 15 hilltops, with Beit El serving as one of the movement's main settlement bases.

The former Knesset member drew widespread condemnation in 2024 after quoting Adolf Hitler during an interview with Israel's Channel 12, saying: "We can't live in this land if one Islamo-Nazi remains in Gaza."