Following the attack on IDF soldiers by settlers over the weekend, Dvir Kariv, former senior official in the Jewish Division of the Shin Bet security agency, said in an interview with the ynet studio that "the hilltop youth feel they have backing from the leadership, from Smotrich and Ben Gvir, and that's why they're escalating. Ben Gvir has caused a significant increase in administrative detentions, he forced the Shin Bet to use it more." According to him, "the hilltop youth are disrespecting IDF soldiers and they should be severely punished. When Smotrich and Ben Gvir don't strongly condemn this with their voices, and not just in tweets on Twitter, it escalates. They are backing it."