Former Israeli premier accuses Netanyahu of supporting settler violence against Palestinians

By Abdelraouf Arnoaut and Rania Abu Shamala

JERUSALEM /ISTANBUL (AA) – Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert accused current Premier Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday of supporting settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Netanyahu, in his capacity as prime minister, “supports the heinous crimes committed by the Hilltop Youth in the Palestinian territories,” Olmert told Army Radio.

He also accused the Israeli government of turning a blind eye to the settler violence against Palestinians.

The "Hilltop Youth,” a far-right settler group in Israel, is notorious for attacking Palestinians through shootings, arson, destruction of property, and establishing illegal outposts. Members of this group are affiliated with right-wing parties that form Netanyahu’s government.

Since the formation of the current government at the end of 2022, attacks by illegal Israeli settlers against Palestinians has escalated significantly, particularly in the northern West Bank.

At least 946 Palestinians have since been killed and over 7,000 others injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers in the West Bank since October 2023, according to Palestinian figures.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.