Public discourse about violence directed at Palestinians in the West Bank has been growing in recent days, and even the prime minister has begun addressing the issue publicly. This has not gone unnoticed by the hilltop youth, who have decided not to accept this quietly.
In recent months, the hilltop youths have been aiming to run a slate in the Likud primaries, hoping to form a political force within the party in order to influence decision‑makers and generate broad Knesset support for their people. In a message distributed in the hilltops to residents of Binyamin, they wrote: “We in the hills are running representatives for the Likud Central Committee in the Binyamin branch. For many long years we have been facing challenges from within and without, physically preventing Palestinian takeover of our land. In order to continue succeeding in this important mission, we are trying to bring several representatives from the hills into the Likud Central Committee, so we can influence Knesset members and ministers.”
Riots following the evacuation of the outpost n Gush Etzion
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As of now, the move is still in its infancy, and it is difficult to assess how successful they will be in the elections.
The slate the hilltop activists are running includes highly problematic figures, some of whom have been arrested in the past on suspicion of nationalist crime. The move is being launched now against the backdrop of a formative event that was for years under the radar, and which surfaced this week with the evacuation of an outpost in Gush Etzion. In practice, the evacuation reopened the long‑standing dispute between “the establishment”—the heads of regional councils, the Settlement Administration, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the Yesha Council, and the Amana movement—on the one hand, and the hilltop youth and the Nahala movement on the other.
In the outpost that was evacuated, hilltop youths had seized the land without coordinating with anyone, declaring themselves de facto owners of the area, even though the Gush Etzion Regional Council and the Settlement Administration established by Smotrich are working to promote a construction plan there for hundreds of housing units.
The establishment’s approach is to settle Judea and Samaria in an orderly way under the oversight of regional councils, while the hilltop youth act to seize land and take possession 'without listening to anyone'
The establishment’s approach is to settle Judea and Samaria in an orderly way under the oversight of regional councils, while the hilltop youth act to seize land and take possession “without listening to anyone,” claiming they are doing so to prevent Palestinian takeover of the area. Among the hilltop youth there is significant criticism and deep anger toward the establishment, whom they see as directly responsible for demolishing settlers’ homes and, in their view, blocking Palestinians “with their bodies.”
The outpost evacuated in Gush Etzion resembles others that exist in Binyamin, Samaria and the South Hebron Hills. In the Binyamin Regional Council they are already discussing taking action against such outposts, and the hilltop youth fear that council heads will carry out additional evacuations. One reason for forming the hilltop youth slate is precisely to stop these evacuations. It should be noted that construction in Judea and Samaria is currently at an all‑time high, with the regional councils being part of this growth.
Supporters of the hilltop youth slate are extremely radical individuals who have been questioned and arrested by the Shin Bet on suspicion of nationalist crime. Even when they came to the Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv to submit their lists, they were detained by detectives from the central investigative unit, and one of them was arrested on suspicion of carrying out “price‑tag” attacks.
The elections will take place next week, with the hilltop youth targeting the Likud branch in Binyamin. These elections will determine who will serve on the Likud Central Committee for the coming years and who will lead the local branch. Israel Ganz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council, is leading a slate together with Likud lawmaker Avichai Boaron, the Mitzpeh Yericho yeshiva, and the National Headquarters in Likud led by Shevach Stern and others. Running against them will also be the hilltop youth list.
A source in the settlement movement said Tuesday: “We are dealing here with a group of anarchists who have been harming the settlement enterprise again and again for years—whether by seizing land without restraint or by harming innocent Palestinians. Now they are trying to take over political power centers to give political backing to this criminal behavior.”
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