Israel Is Conducting a Systematic Campaign of Ethnic Cleansing and Crimes Against Humanity in the West Bank - Opinion

Today, it must be said that the State of Israel is conducting an organized, systematic, state-funded campaign of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. Not in the Gaza Strip, not in southern Lebanon, not in Syria, but in areas of the West Bank that are under the exclusive security control of the state and its security and law enforcement apparatus.

At the forefront of this campaign are the prime minister, Defense Minister Israel Katz and the rest of the cabinet, of course. The drive behind these acts is reflected in the statements and actions of senior ministers who seek the full annexation of the West Bank without their Palestinian inhabitants remaining there. I am referring specifically to Itamar Ben-Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich and the other ministers who support, through word and deed, policies that amount to the expulsion of Palestinian residents.

Nothing can justify turning a blind eye to what is happening daily in Palestinian villages across the West Bank: pogroms, children and adults injured in and outside their homes, fields and property set ablaze, and large-scale theft – especially of cattle and sheep, the primary source of livelihood for many residents. Faced with all this, it is impossible to remain calm, forgiving or unwilling to confront the perpetrators, their supporters and their leaders.

The thousands of settlers involved in these crimes could not act without the assistance, protection, backing and funding provided by government agencies at both the local and national levels. Crimes of this scale – including serious sexual abuse, even if not exactly as described by Nicholas Kristof in The New York Times – would not be possible without support at every stage. The Israel Police are, in practice, partners in what is taking place in the West Bank. They do not attempt to prevent these acts, despite their duty to do so. In many cases, security forces actively assist Jewish terrorists – and, remarkably, it is almost always the Palestinian victims who are arrested, rather than the perpetrators.