Israel's security establishment is concerned about a spike in violent activity by extreme right-wing Jewish activists.
The concern in the security establishment as a whole and the Shin Bet security agency in particular stems from a spike in violent activity attributed to the extreme Right. Figures obtained by Israel Hayom indicate that over the course of 2018, Jews committed 295 acts of violence, compared to 197 in 2017, an increase of 50%.
The number of incidents in which right-wing extremists directly targeted security forces tripled from 2017 to 2018, from 14 to 42. Most of these incidents took place in the settlement of Yitzhar and a number of surrounding outposts.
Extremist activists based in Yitzhar also stepped in to provide guidance to five teenagers suspected in a rock-throwing attack that killed Palestinian mother of eight Aisha al-Rawbi last October. The attack took place on a Friday, a few hours before Shabbat began, and on Shabbat the adults had arrived at the Pri Haaretz yeshiva in Rechelim, where the boys are students, and briefed them on what do to as the investigation progressed. Israel Hayom has learned that legal advisors also counseled the suspects on how to handle the Shin Bet interrogations they would face.
"They arrived ready for battle," a senior security official said. "They'd been well briefed, and knew what was ahead of them."
The official added that support from extremist adults prompts younger extremists to continue engaging in violent activity.
"They feel like they're invincible, that no one should mess with them. It's no coincidence that they seek confrontations with security forces, break police officers' arms in Amona or attack soldiers. They are doing all this to deter us from taking action against them," the official explained.
The decline in its deterrence toward the extreme Right disturbs the Shin Bet. The organization is particularly critical of settlement leaders who have openly expressed support for the youngsters and voiced criticism of the security forces, and also of rabbis who fail to condemn acts of terrorism, thereby giving tacit approval.
"We're trying to get them to help us, but we mostly get a cold shoulder," the official said.
Moreover, the profile of the current crop of extremists is different. Most cases involve youths age 15-17 who fell through the cracks of the religious Zionist social framework and found a haven in the hilltop outposts in Judea and Samaria. Often, they are cut off from their families. This past Monday, police arrived at one such outpost in the Binyamin region and discovered an 11-year-old girl in the women's quarters. Police contacted the girl's parents, who said they didn't want to pick her up.
The security establishment is worried that the growing extremism, along with the difficulty of turning intelligence about terrorist acts into evidence that can be used in court and the lack of deterrence, will lead to even more terrorism by Jews in 2019.
"We're heading down a dangerous path," the official said.
"Often, they [the perpetrators] are given backing, sometimes by politicians. The young people realize they can carry on, and their actions become more extreme. It could reach the point of using firearms and [committing] terrorist attacks that could upend everything," he warned.
