Column: New Jewish Narrative
Aug 3, 2026
Q.Why is the West Bank different?
A. Unlike other occupied territories such as across the borders in Syria, Lebanon and even Gaza, Israel is actively settling the West Bank. It is happening on an unprecedented scale. Militant settlers, backed by the Israeli government and the IDF, are harassing and expelling Palestinian residents.
According to Peace Now, there are today over 140 settlements and some 360 “outposts” and “farms” in the West Bank. The more extreme settlers, armed by Israel, initiate near-constant friction with the majority Palestinian population of some three million. When violence occurs, the IDF intervenes, nearly always on the side of the settlers. In extreme instances, militant West Bank settlers attack the IDF itself, or attack Israeli peace activists chronicling settler crimes.
The IDF in the West Bank is under the command of a Central Command general, a Judea and Samaria force commander and the head of the Shin Bet security service, all of whom are graduates of the same Orthodox National Religious institutions that sponsor the settlers. Presiding over all this is Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is also minister in the Defense Ministry with special responsibility for the West Bank. Minister of Defense Yisrael Katz, a political hack and Netanyahu yes-man, consistently backs them up.
Smotrich leads the National Religious political movement. In the past four years alone he has approved over 100 new settlements. This, then, is a crawling, violent land-grab in the name of an ideological-religious claim. Smotrich’s policies aim to ensure that between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, equal numbers of Jews and Arabs (roughly 7-8 million each) will not be able to sort themselves out into separate national entities. It will all be Israel. Arabs will not have equal rights; they will be tolerated if they behave themselves, meaning submissively. They will be encouraged and even incentivized to leave.
That is Smotrich’s National Religious vision. It is openly supported by the Netanyahu government. Inside Israel, it hits the headlines whenever someone, especially a settler or a soldier, is killed in a clash in the West Bank as happened some ten days ago in the northern West Bank. The rest of the time, other fronts dominate the headlines. And they present a stark contrast.
Yossi Alpher's Death Tango: Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat and Three Fateful Days in March
"Anyone seeking to understand how Israelis and Palestinians traded the hopes of Oslo for something approaching hopelessness is well-advised to read this book. With penetrating analysis and elegant prose, Yossi Alpher has told the gripping story of three days nearly two decades ago that continue to haunt would-be peacemakers. Yossi’s faithful readers will not be disappointed with his latest effort."
Ambassador Frederic C. Hof, Bard College
"A riveting account of the crucial days in March 2002 when the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was profoundly changed for the worse. The peace camp has never recovered from those wrenching days, and we live now without any hope of a just settlement. Alpher is a highly respected expert who has spent decades studying this conflict from both sides."
Bruce Riedel, Director of the Brookings Intelligence Project
"A critical assessment of a key period in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict never before presented in such detail. The best and most capable players at the executive and political levels proved unable to forge any resolution, final or partial, because both parties continued to maintain an insurmountable gulf between themselves. This is a MUST read for anyone daring to tackle the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and of Israel-Arab relations in general."
Efraim Halevy, former Head of the Mossad (1998-2002)
Oraib Khader and Avi Bar-On are youngish Palestinian and Israeli bachelors with security experience, readiness to do business with one another, a shared fondness for women and money, and total cynicism about the lack of peace between their two peoples.
Oraib and Avi can never become true friends: the cultural and political gaps are too wide. But as they confront a failed peace process and a bleak peace future, they readily become business partners: shady business that exploits a lot of naïve international peace aspirations.
As Oraib sums up on a visit to Sarpsborg, Norway, where the ultimately-failed Oslo peace talks were held, “There is a lesson here for those who still doggedly and hopelessly pursue a two-state solution in the Middle East. Get smart. Get out of the Israeli-Palestinian peace business. Step back and let the Jews and Arabs screw one another while making money.”