“Jewish terror” is rarely heard in mainstream discourse without triggering accusations of anti-Semitism. Yet a growing number of Israeli political, military and intelligence figures are using the term to describe escalating settler violence in the occupied West Bank.

In a letter reported by Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Thursday, dozens of high-ranking Israeli officials, including former prime ministers Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert and ex-IDF chiefs of staff Moshe Ya'alon and Dan Halutz, accuse the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right government of “doing nothing to eradicate Jewish terror” against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

The letter drafted by Israeli lawyer Shmuel Berkowitz as “a wake-up call and a final warning” includes a detailed description of the actions of Israeli settlers that constitute terrorism.

“We demand that you take all necessary measures to immediately eliminate the Jewish terror prevalent in (the occupied West Bank) in recent years, during which Palestinian villagers and shepherds are murdered and wounded, and property is damaged and looted with cruel violence by hundreds of young Jewish criminals,” it reads.

Despite the ceasefire announced in October, the occupied West Bank has witnessed a sharp rise in violence, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres saying settler attacks are “now averaging six a day.”

More than 1,000 illegal settler attacks have been recorded since January, leaving casualties, damaging property and forcing over 2,200 Palestinians from their homes, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The letter refers to the perpetrators of these attacks as “criminals” and says their violence is intended to force Palestinians from their villages to advance a vision of “land redemption through forced Judaization of (the occupied West Bank).”

It also slams the term “hilltop youth”, a label for young Israeli settlers who establish unauthorised outposts in the occupied West Bank with the aim of asserting Jewish control over occupied territories, and who have frequently been linked to violence against Palestinians.

“For some reason, these Jewish criminals are referred to by you with the naive term of 'hilltop youth,' as if they were members of a youth movement, marginalised youth or (outliers),” the letter reads.

“These are also young people and adults who lead even minors on the path of terror, crime and deadly violence.”

The letter points out that the attacks involve not only the settlers themselves but also personnel from “regional defence units, local security squads and communities within Israel.”

This has been confirmed by a UN report released in early June, which has laid bare that Israeli security forces provide protection to settlers in attacks that have killed, injured and displaced Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

The letter concludes by urging Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defence Minister Katz and senior security and justice officials to remove those responsible for acts of violence from the occupied West Bank and bring them to justice.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz describes the effort as “the harshest appeal of its kind regarding Jewish terror and is signed by a broad group, including dozens of former senior officials.”

Among the signatories are former prime ministers Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert, former Mossad director Tamir Pardo, several former Shin Bet chiefs and senior military officials, as well as Israel Prize laureate David Grossman, according to the Israeli daily.

UN Secretary General Guterres has recently warned that Palestinians are being displaced from the occupied West Bank at levels “not seen since 1967”, amid rising settler violence, home demolitions, land confiscations and continued settlement expansion.

Since October 2023, Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1,080 Palestinians In the occupied Palestinians territory, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry data.

Over 700,000 illegal settlers live in the occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, among more than three million Palestinians, according to a European Union report ​in 2024.