The novelty of the matter is not the attacks on Palestinian women, children, and the elderly in their cities and villages, as this has been a reality since the beginning of the occupation. However, the most significant implication in the report is the shift from describing the attacks as a problem in the West Bank to linking them directly to Israeli national security. Consequently, the occupation forces' need to allocate troops to confront settler attacks limits their ability to carry out other tasks, which may lead to continuous attacks without accountability.
Furthermore, the report highlights a deeper problem related to the relationship between security and political institutions and the settlers, especially with the approach of elections. The lack of prosecution, the rapid release of detained settlers, and the absence of clear and explicit condemnation or a firm political stance encourage settlers to commit more of these attacks, under the belief that they have de facto immunity and are guaranteed only superficial accountability.
Politically, this policy results in the weakening of Palestinian Authority institutions and increases pressure on them to return to armed action to resist and deter settlers. This paves the way for a comprehensive security explosion in the West Bank, threatening regional repercussions and causing significant damage to Israel's relations with neighboring countries in particular and the region in general. This is especially relevant as there is talk now of new regional arrangements led by the United States to confront the Iranian expansionist project. The irony is clear: at a time when Israel seeks to present itself as a security partner in the region to be part of the security system protecting Red Sea security and energy supplies, the continuation of settler terrorism in the West Bank may turn into a factor that weakens its ability to build partnerships with moderate countries in the region.
If the Israeli political administration does not pay attention to the issue of strengthening the rule of law, curbing settler attacks, coordinating the work of institutions away from extremist agendas that lead to the abyss, strengthening the authority of security institutions, evacuating settlement outposts from the West Bank, and applying the law to the perpetrators of settler attacks, all of this may backfire on the occupying state itself, both security-wise and politically. This would occur through the transformation of settler terrorism from a tool of pressure on Palestinians intended for displacement into a factor of attrition for Israel and its image before the world, whose support it relies on all the time.
