Violence in the West Bank: ‘The Israeli government of Netanyahu has chosen to follow a hard line’

In an interview with ‘Le Monde,’ Dominique Vidal explains the recent upsurge in violence in the occupied West Bank.

By Clémence Apetogbor
Jan 28, 2023

On Thursday, January 26 and Friday January 27, at least 10 Palestinians were killed in Israeli operations in the West Bank and Gaza, the latest of which was presented as a response to Hamas strikes. This is the deadliest outbreak in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the August 2022 violence in Gaza between the Israeli army and the Islamic Jihad, during which 49 Palestinians, combatants and civilians, including children, died in three days.

Thursday’s deaths bring the number of Palestinians, civilians or members of armed groups, killed in violence with Israeli forces or civilians since the beginning of the year to 30.

Dominique Vidal, a freelance journalist and member of the board of the Institut de recherche et d’études Méditerranée Moyen-Orient, explained to Le Monde the reasons for the upsurge in violence in recent days in the occupied West Bank.

How can we explain this upsurge in violence, which has reached a level not seen since the second intifada (2000-2005)?

The most important factor is the inauguration of the new Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu [combining right-wing, far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties], which for the first time is composed of racist and homophobic Jewish supremacists.

Thanks to the alliance with Likud [Benjamin Netanyahu’s party], the supremacists not only have a large group in the Knesset [Parliament], but have also been offered key ministries, such as Internal Security, headed by [Jewish supremacist] Itamar Ben Gvir, and Finance, headed by [religious ultra-nationalist] Bezalel Smotrich, who is also responsible for civil administration of the West Bank.