Khaberni - Two former Israeli Prime Ministers, along with prominent figures from Israel and the United States, former heads of security agencies, and dozens of former officials in different security institutions, signed a letter that was addressed last Wednesday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling on the government and its agencies to take decisive and immediate action against what they described as "Jewish terrorism" in the occupied West Bank.
The letter, prepared by lawyer Shmuel Berkovitch, included a detailed presentation of violations and attacks carried out by Jewish extremists against Palestinians in recent years, with an overview of what the signatories considered an alarming escalation in the rate of such activities.
Copies of the letter were also sent to the Minister of Defense, the Minister of National Security, several other ministers, the Chief of Staff, the head of the General Security Service (Shabak), and the Inspector General of the Police, along with other senior officials.
This step is a preliminary legal action prior to a possible appeal to the Supreme Court if the government continues its current policies and fails to take concrete steps to address this issue.
A Last Warning Bell
On behalf of the signatories, Berkovitch wrote that the letter is "a last warning bell. We demand that all necessary measures be taken immediately to eradicate the Jewish terrorism that has spread in the West Bank in recent years, resulting in the killing and injury of Palestinian villagers and shepherds, and the brutal and violent destruction and looting of property by hundreds of Jewish criminals and youth."
According to the signatories, "these criminals mostly live in farms and settlement outposts, most of which have not been sanctioned by the competent authorities." These outposts were established near Palestinian villages with the intent to harm the residents and expel them from their villages, promoting the vision of "land reclamation" through what is called the forced Judaization of the West Bank.
The authors of the letter add: "For some reason, you refer to these Jewish criminals by the ridiculous name 'hilltop youth', as if they are members of a youth movement, marginalized youth, or even noxious weeds.
These are both young and old, leading the youth down the path of terrorism, crime, and deadly violence.
In the major raids conducted by these criminals, senior settlers from other settlements, regional defense units, and readiness teams of Jewish settlements, as well as settlements within Israel's borders, join them.
The signatories call on Netanyahu, the Minister of Defense, and senior officials in the security and judicial institutions to immediately ban all Jews involved in terrorist acts from the West Bank borders and to subject them to criminal prosecution.
Statements Contrary to Reality
According to them, Netanyahu describes the phenomenon of Jewish terrorism in the West Bank in a way that is baseless. In an interview with Fox News in December 2025, the Prime Minister claimed that "those responsible for this are seventy children, not from the West Bank, but teenagers from broken homes. They engage in acts like tree cutting, and sometimes attempt to burn down houses. I cannot accept this, and I am making strenuous efforts to stop it."
They wrote that Netanyahu's statements are baseless. They added: "He and all government ministers are doing nothing to eradicate Jewish terrorism in the West Bank. They neither condemn it nor mandate the Israeli military, police, the General Security Service (Shabak), and the Civil Administration to combat it. At least some of them, support this terrorism by providing financial aid and equipment, and building farms and illegal settlement sites, used as residences for Jewish terrorist elements."
This call is the most severe of its kind concerning the issue of Jewish terrorism, and it has been signed by a large number of personalities, including dozens of high-ranking former officials.
Among the signatories were former Prime Ministers Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert, former Chiefs of Staff Moshe Ya'alon and Dan Halutz, former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, former heads of the General Security Service Carmi Gillon and Yaakov Peri, former head of the National Security Council Uzi Arad, former Supreme Court judge Yoram Danziger, former generals Nitzan Alon, Avi Mizrahi, and Gadi Shamni, former Attorney General Moshe Lador, as well as prominent rabbis, academics, and six Israel Prize winners, including writer David Grossman.
This letter comes amid a sharp escalation in terrorist activities by Jews against Palestinians in the West Bank, especially the systematic harassment and violence that has led to the displacement of Palestinian residents and the migration of entire communities, particularly in the Jordan Valley.
Retired Major General Yaakov (Mandi) Orr, the former coordinator of operations in the occupied Palestinian territories, led semi-monthly inspection tours of these areas throughout the past year, in which dozens of politicians and retired generals participated.
The signatories were shocked by the scenes they saw on the ground and from their discussions with Palestinians who had been attacked.
