  Top Israeli think tank says Jewish terrorism threatens Israel’s security A leading Israeli think tank issued a rare strategic alert on Tuesday warning that Jewish terrorism against Palestinians in the West Bank threatens Israel’s security, international standing and functionality as a state.This is only the second strategic alert that the Institute for National Security Studies has ever issued. The first came in March 2023, seven months before the October 7 massacre, amid the social and political crisis over the Netanyahu government’s attempted judicial coup.Settler violence, which has escalated since Hamas’ assault on southern Israel, “has evolved from a local enforcement problem into a distinct strategic threat to the State of Israel and its democratic character,” the institute, which has close ties to Israel’s defense establishment, said.Poor law enforcement against violent settlers, a weakened judiciary, and a lack of political support for acting against perpetrators are “creating a reality marked by lawlessness, non-recognition of state institutions, and the loss of the state’s monopoly on the use of force,” the report warned, adding that “Israel cannot regard itself as a state governed by the rule of law, with a nonpartisan military … while simultaneously acquiescing to selective enforcement, standing idly by, and blurring the facts.”Meanwhile, a month after the IDF launched an operation to evacuate illegal outposts established in Palestinian Authority-administered territory between the West Bank villages of Qusra and Jalud, settlers continue to roam the hills freely.The settlers’ blockade of the Palestinian homes in Qusra initially drew unusual international attention after it emerged that one of the owners of the besieged homes is a U.S. citizen. However, despite an IDF order designating the area a closed military zone, the outpost remains in place. Settlers have also been using Palestinian structures they took over rather than the sheds and temporary structures typically erected at these outposts. Senior military officers criticize IDF’s response to ‘NAZA’ After formally requesting to revoke the citizenship of the creators of “NAZA,” accusing them of possible treason and implying that Hamas had provided materials for the film, Culture Minister Miki Zohar said Wednesday that he asked Israel’s domestic intelligence agency to investigate the sources of information used in the film.Haaretz has learned that Shin Bet officials contacted the IDF’s Information Security Department on Tuesday to ask whether the military planned to investigate soldiers who were interviewed in “NAZA.” They were told that no criminal investigation had been opened and no decision had been made on the matter, because army officials have not seen the film, do not know the identities of those interviewed or the content of their statements, and therefore cannot yet determine what steps, if any, should be taken.Following the film’s premiere in Venice last week, which elicited a record-breaking standing ovation of 25 minutes, IDF Chief of Staff Zamir instructed Military Intelligence, the Military Advocate General’s Corps and the Israeli Air Force to begin identifying the soldiers featured in it. In deliberations, the IDF’s top lawyer said that there would be no legal basis for criminal prosecution unless the participants committed information-security violations or disclosed classified material.Criticism is growing within the IDF’s senior ranks over Zamir’s handling of the response to the film, with some saying he erred by issuing several forceful public statements before watching the film or establishing the substance of its allegations.Diplomatic and Foreign Ministry sources told Haaretz that the IDF’s reaction to the documentary, coupled with government threats to punish its creators, have drawn far more international media attention than the film itself.“It would have made headlines anyway, but they really helped amplify it. The very fact that the government responded drew attention and headlines,” a Foreign Ministry source said, and noted in particular Zohar’s call to revoke the citizenship of “NAZA” creators Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor.On Tuesday, far-right activist and rapper Yoav Eliasi, who was dismissed from his role with the Israel Police following a Haaretz investigation into allegations that he used his connections to benefit a business he co-owned, posted a video showing a street artist making a mural of Avraham and Szor holding mugshot placards with their “traitor identification number.” A day later, a man was filmed covering the word “traitors” with “heroes.” Ben-Gvir failed to use hundreds of millions earmarked for fighting crime in Arab society Israel’s National Security Ministry, led by far-right politician and convicted felon Itamar Ben-Gvir, has failed to use hundreds of millions of shekels allocated to it in the 2026 budget to combat crime in Arab society, according to a government document obtained by Haaretz.The number of murders in Israel, and specifically in its Arab communities, has surged since Ben-Gvir took office in 2023, spiking from 108 homicides in the previous year to an average of 242 in the following three. In 2026 so far, 171 people have been murdered in Arab communities. Clearance rates remain low: Only 15 to 20 percent of cases in Arab society are solved.According to a senior government source, most of the budget was earmarked for recruiting officers to stations in Arab and mixed communities, but the police failed to meet the targets they had set. The National Security Ministry responded that “this is complete fake news and yet more propaganda by Haaretz disguised as ‘journalism.’ The balance figures cited in the inquiry are absurd, fabricated, baseless and unsupported by facts.” |
