Netanyahu’s two faces: Condemning violent Israeli settlers while backing far-right extremists

• Netanyahu condemns settler violence publicly but supports far-right extremists who encourage attacks on Palestinians to secure political power.
• Violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank has increased, with minimal legal consequences and government funding for new settlements on Palestinian land.
• Opposition leaders criticise the violence but avoid discussing future West Bank governance, allowing extremists to act with impunity ahead of the Oct 27 election.

LONDON – “A handful of lawless rioters” is how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the widespread violence inflicted over the weekend by Israeli Jewish settlers on Palestinians in the occupied territories of the West Bank.

Netanyahu claimed that he expects the Israeli army, police and the Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence service, to arrest these rioters and “bring them to justice”.