Former senior Israeli military and security officials have denounced Israeli illegal settlers' violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, with some describing the aggression as "ethnic cleansing," The New York Times reported.
"This is ethnic cleansing, to put it simply," retired Brigadier General Ephraim Sneh, a former Israeli health minister, said of attacks on Palestinians.
Major General Eyal Ben-Reuven, a former commander in Israeli army, said illegal settlers' violence represents a greater threat than regional fronts: "This, what the settlers are doing here, is the real threat to Israel."
The remarks came as retired generals and former officials toured Palestinian communities to examine the impact of illegal settlers' violence, including assaults on farmers and shepherds and the systematic seizure of grazing land.
In the Jordan Valley, night-time incursions and raids forced entire Bedouin encampments, such as Hamamat al-Maleh, to abandon their homes.
Extreme ideology
In June, more than 200 prominent Israelis—including two former prime ministers, over 30 retired generals, and former intelligence chiefs—signed a letter demanding an end to what they termed "Jewish terrorism" and "ethnic cleansing" in the occupied West Bank.
The signatories accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government of pursuing "a deliberate government policy in which the entire security establishment — including the military, Shin Bet and the police — is knowingly complicit," highlighting state funding for illegal outposts and soldiers participating in or standing by during assaults.
Moshe Ya'alon, a former army chief of staff and defence minister under Netanyahu, condemned the extremist ideology driving the outposts, terming supremacist rhetoric "'Mein Kampf' in reverse."
Retired Air Force General Asaf Agmon warned: "Once a society behaves this way, that society is doomed."
Illegal Israeli settlers have carried out thousands of attacks in the occupied West Bank since October 2023, according to UN figures cited by the Times.
More than 3,200 Palestinians have been displaced by illegal settlers' attacks so far in 2026—double the rate recorded last year—whilst the average rate of Palestinians injured in such attacks has surged from one every three days in 2020 to more than three per day this year.
