Israeli settlers enjoy widespread impunity in crimes on Palestinians in the West Bank, according to a report from an Israeli organization for the defense of Human Rights on Monday.
According to Yesh Din, 85.3% of Palestinian complaints are closed without further action due to the inability of investigators to arrest suspects or to gather enough evidence to file an indictment.
Only 7.4% of complaints leading to indictments against suspects and only a third of these proceedings result in a conviction. In the end, says the NGO, "the probability that a complaint filed by a Palestinian from the Israeli police will lead to an effective investigation; the arrest of a suspect and his judgment is just 1.8%".
"The report reveals a disturbing picture of the conduct of law enforcement in general and the police in particular, in the field of ideological crimes (violence, property damage, seizure of land and others)," said Yesh Din.
In the West Bank, Israeli settlements and Palestinian villages are sometimes just a few hundred meters from one another, particularly in "Area C" under Israeli civil and military control where, according to the UN, 298,000 Palestinians and 341,000 Israelis live in 135 settlements and hundreds of outposts.