Former Israeli security chiefs to Trump: ‘Stop settler violence in the West Bank’

A group of 600 former senior Israeli security officials has issued a direct appeal to US President Donald Trump, urging him to use his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call for a decisive action against the escalating violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. According to the signatories, the escalation risks turning into a regional crisis with consequences not only for Israel’s security, but also for the United States’ strategic interests in the Middle East.

The letter was initiated by Commanders for Israel’s Security, an organisation comprising former officers of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), the Shin Bet, the Mossad, the police and the diplomatic corps. The document, signed by former Deputy Chief of Staff Matan Vilnai, was sent to the White House on the eve of the meeting between Trump and Netanyahu.

“If the escalation of violence in the West Bank is not halted swiftly and decisively, it could trigger a regional crisis with serious consequences for Israel’s security and for US interests in the region,” the letter states. For this reason, the former security officials are calling on the US President to convey “a strong and clear message” to the Israeli Prime Minister during their meeting.

In the document, the former officials maintain that the Israeli security forces are already engaged in combating Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups in the West Bank, but they complain that they are operating under ‘severe restrictions’ when it comes to tackling what they describe as ‘terrorist violence by Jewish settlers’.

The accusation also extends to the current Israeli government. “It is no secret that members of our government are responsible for much of this chaos, including by granting settlers a substantial sense of impunity before the law,” the signatories write.