The Israeli defense officials have expressed concerns over a dramatic rise in hate crimes and violence perpetrated by Jewish nationalists, many of whom are settlers living in the West Bank, according to information obtained by Ynet.
According to data received by Ynet, reported hate crimes increased significantly in 2020 compared to the previous year, with a spike observed after a hilltop youth Ahuvia Sandak was killed when his vehicle overturned near Jerusalem during a police chase in December of last year.
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Settlers hurl stones at Palestinians and set their fields on fire on Saturday
(Photo: Yesh Din)
Sandak, 16, was killed when him and several other settler youths tried to flee from police officers, who were attempting to detain them for allegedly throwing rocks at Palestinians in the central West Bank.
Following the fatal crash, weeks-long protests broke out across the West Bank where settlers hurled stones at security forces.
In addition, violent attacks against Palestinian farmers and often IDF troops have increased since the start of the olive harvest in the West Bank.
Last week, settlers in the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar attacked troops, while in a separate incident an officer and a Civil Administration officer were sprayed with tear gas by settlers
According to the Defense Ministry, there were 507 alleged hate crime incidents in 2020, which included vandalism and physical altercations between settlers and Palestinians - among them setting fire to a school in the village of Einabus near Nablus and a mosque in Al-Bireh near Ramallah.
In the first six months of 2021, at least 416 hate crimes were committed, double the number of incidents reported for the same period in the previous year.
Following Sandak's death at least 86 incidents of hate crimes were reported - double the figure reported the previous year in the same time period. Most incidents involved stone throwing in or around Palestinian villages, with many of them occurring in the areas around the West Bank city of Hebron.
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Settlers clash with police over the death of Ahuvia Sandak killed during police chase in December 2020
(Photo: Shalev Shalom)
A defense official told Ynet that he was very concerned by the statistics.
"We see dozens of incidents each month and since the start of the olive harvest, we observe crimes ranging from damage to olive groves, setting fire to property and physical altercations [involving the local Palestinians and even IDF forces]."