The Wild, Wild West… Bank
Friday November 14, 2025 – כ״ג חֶשְׁוָ תשפ”ו
In the Old American West, before the rule of law took hold, justice was often delivered at the end of a rope or the barrel of a gun. Vigilantes claimed to act in the name of order, but their “justice” was really about power. Whoever was the strongest, quickest, or most feared decided what was right and wrong. It was a world where the institutions meant to protect were frequently absent, corrupt, or complicit, and where morality often gave way to might.
Tragically, echoes of that “Wild West justice” can now be heard in parts of the West Bank, where extremist Settlers have taken the law into their own hands, acting with impunity while vulnerable communities live in fear. This past Wednesday’s headline said it all: “Footage shows dozens of masked settlers gathered on hillside as factory, trucks burn below; IDF says it detained several suspects, troops later attacked by group of settlers nearby”
As Reform Jews, we have always understood that the moral fabric of the Jewish people cannot be separated from the ethical imperatives of our tradition. When injustice is carried out in the name of the Jewish state or in the name of Zionism, it demands our moral resistance. To remain silent is to become complicit. It is from that conviction — born of Torah, sustained by our prophetic heritage, and sharpened by our experiences in Israel today — that we must speak out against the rising wave of Settler violence. On November 4, Israeli volunteers and Rabbis from Israel and America accompanying Palestinian farmers in Qarawat Bani Hassan were attacked by a settler’s drone, and a soldier (who was later dismissed from his service from the IDF for his conduct) fired a shot in their direction.
MK Rabbi Gilad Kariv explained:
“Their goal is to ignite a third intifada, which will bring the IDF to operate in a way reminiscent of the operation in Gaza. This move will cost the lives of hundreds of Israeli soldiers and civilians and thousands of Palestinians.”
The situation is not simply “getting out of control” — it must be regarded as a Hillul HaShem, a desecration of God’s name. Settler violence is antithetical to the Zionist ethos, just as the actions of the Ku Klux Klan were antithetical to the American ideal. Of course, many Jewish residents living across the Green Line are law-abiding and peace-seeking; many of their neighborhoods would likely remain part of Israel in any future agreement. Yet these are not distant or theoretical concerns — they are visible and devastating realities we encountered personally in the village of Umm Al-Kheir.
During our recent mission to Israel, thirty-five members of our delegation to the World Zionist Congress spent a day in Umm Al-Kheir, a small Palestinian village in the South Hebron Hills. There, we witnessed the painful consequences of unchecked aggression by extremist settlers. We met with Khalil and Eid Halatheen, brothers of Awda, who was wantonly gunned down by Yinon Levy — a known settler leader, previously sanctioned by the Biden administration — for no reason other than his work as a peace activist. The killing was caught on video, yet justice remains elusive.
Around the village, we saw newly placed “caravans” — makeshift mobile homes — perched on the edge of a playground and community center. Just that morning, far-right MK Tzvi Sukkot had joined settlers in laying a cornerstone and stretching barbed wire fencing, further restricting Palestinian movement. Amid this heartbreaking reality, we met two young Reform Jewish women spending the year living out their vision of Zionism — a Zionism rooted in justice, equality, and love for Israel. One told us how painful it was to see settlers take over part of the playground to set up a makeshift synagogue, singing familiar Kabbalat Shabbat melodies not in the spirit of prayer, but as an act of provocation.
Three days after our visit, orders were issued for the demolition of dozens of Umm Al-Kheir homes (listen to this message from Khalil Halatheen). There is no reason for these demolitions, other than to make life difficult for those villagers and to eventually get them to leave, making it possible to expand the hilltop settlement of Carmel.
As it is now, residents live under threat, not knowing whether the next attack will come at night or in broad daylight. Nearby, we saw ancient olive trees — uprooted and burned — a desecration made all the more grotesque by the symbolism of the olive branch, which has long been the world’s emblem of peace. To destroy the olive harvest is to reject the very ideal of peace, to trample upon the vision of coexistence at the heart of our Jewish and human values.
This week’s Torah portion, Chayei Sarah, centers on the story of our ancestors purchasing the Cave of Machpelah in Hevron — a sacred site to Jews for millennia. Yet, each year on this parasha, thousands of right-wing Jews make pilgrimage to Hevron not to honor our shared history in reverence, but to assert dominance through violence and intimidation. The dissonance is striking. What should be a moment of reflection on our spiritual roots has too often become a dizzying display of desecration and dominance, of intimidation and fear.
Those of us who love Israel dare not to look away.
It is on us to care enough to demand better. We must insist that the dream of a Jewish and democratic state must never be built upon fear, displacement, or inequality. Those who hesitate to criticize Israel out of love or loyalty must remember that silence in the face of Jewish violence is not devotion — it is desecration. When Jews commit acts of terror and brutality, they profane God’s name and defile the moral foundation upon which the State of Israel was built. This violence undermines the moral, spiritual, and political foundations upon which Zionism was built. If we want others to join us in condemning Palestinian/Hamas terrorism, then we must be emphatic in our condemnation.
To speak out, then, is not to weaken Israel but to strengthen its moral core.
The recent deportation of Jewish activists who were volunteering with the Palestinian olive harvest deepens our moral alarm. The State of Israel must protect freedom of conscience, not punish it. We also recognize and applaud efforts like Representative Jerry Nadler’s “West Bank Settler Violence Prevention Act,” which seeks to ensure accountability and uphold human rights consistent with America’s enduring support for Israel’s security and democracy.
To reject the growing danger and threat of Settler violence and Jewish terror is not to reject Zionism; it is to defend its essence — the aspiration to build a Jewish State that is not only strong, but righteous; not only sovereign, but just. Our Reform Zionism, rooted in the Jewish values of justice and compassion, compels us to defend that truth wherever it is threatened. In North America, we are not strangers to the accusations that Zionism is a supremacist and racist movement. Just this week, we marked the 50th anniversary of the farcical UN resolution that claimed “Zionism = Racism”. It is upon us all to stand up to those whose actions bring truth to that stereotype and who are denigrating the reputation of Zionists, Israelis, and Jews everywhere.
In solidarity with our partners in the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism (IMPJ), we reaffirm our vision for an Israel that embodies the best of Jewish ethics — one that safeguards all who dwell within its borders. To speak out is to protect not only the dignity of others, but the soul of Israel itself.
May our words and actions restore the meaning of the olive branch — and may peace, justice, and compassion once again take root in our shared land.