During their recent debate, neither Donald Trump nor Kamala Harris articulated any policies to end the current Israeli-Palestinian fighting. Trump promised to “stop the war” without providing a scintilla of detail on how would do this. Harris reiterated the Biden administration's commitment to Israel’s defense and to a two-state solution but did not articulate any policy on how to achieve either. It looks like the Gaza conflict will continue through the of Biden’s term and beyond January 20, 2025.
The Gaza conflict, the most brutal in modern Middle history, has overshadowed a more insidious issue: the systematic campaign by Israeli settlers, supported by the Israeli Army, to displace Palestinians from the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Other than to largely symbolic imposition of sanctions against two of the worst perpetrators, the White House has confined itself to expressions of disapproval.
This campaign has intensified with explicit backing from the Israeli government. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political survival depends on two key figures: Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who have been instrumental in expanding settlements and weakening the Palestinian Authority. Smotrich oversees the state apparatus responsible for settlement expansion, while Ben-Gvir has obstructed enforcement against settler violence. Both men have been involved in controversial actions, including sending followers to attack an Israeli Army base to spring prison guards accused of sodomizing Palestinian prisoners. Netanyahu’s government has pandered to the settlers by authorizing new settlements and retroactively legalizing previously unauthorized outposts. His government has also carried out the largest land appropriation since the Oslo Accords.
The Israeli settlers have used the Gaza war as cover for widespread attacks on Palestinian towns and villages. Since October 7, 2003, settlers and the Israeli army have killed more than 650 Palestinians in the West Bank and in Jerusalem. Israelis claim that most of the dead are "terrorists," -- including 14-year-old boys shot while throwing stones at armored vehicles. Moreover, settlers have murdered more than two dozen Palestinian civilians as they as they tried to defend their homes, olive trees or flocks of sheep. In one particularly horrific case, masked settlers tossed firebombs into a home and blocked the doors to prevent the family inside from escaping. The settler organizations have made it quite clear that their intent is the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes and the establishment of more settlements to prevent any chance of a viable Palestinian state. In many cases, Israeli Army occupation forces appear on the scene but do nothing to restrain the settlers. Often soldiers have joined in the attacks. Recently, an American peace activist, Aysenur Eygi, was killed after attending a protest against settler attacks. The Israeli Army admits that a soldier “probably” shot her during a clash but eyewitnesses report that the clashes had ended much earlier.
The UN, the EU and other international bodies consider these settlements illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Israel, although a signatory to the Convention, rejects the decision claiming the territories are “part of Israel’s homeland,” a claim no other country accepts.
Belatedly responding to settler violence, the US imposed sanctions on two individuals and an organization involved in organizing attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank. The US also is studying additional measures against entities supporting violent settler activity and Palestinian displacement. Smotrich and Ben Gvir have condemned even this wrist slap as “immoral” and have promised to “protect” the sanctioned settlers.
Media reports on the situation in the Occupied West Bank rarely mention another crucial issue: the ongoing campaign by Israeli settlers to eliminate the indigenous Christian presence in Jerusalem. The Palestinian Christian population, including Greek Orthodox, Catholics, Armenians and Anglicans, faces increasing threats organized by an Israeli settler organization, Ateret Cohanim. This group, which promotes “redeeming” Jerusalem from its Palestinian inhabitants, receives substantial financial support from American donors, especially evangelical Christian organizations. Ateret Cohanim tactics include buying out Palestinian homeowners and using violence to expel them if they do not want to sell. Ateret Cohanim members vandalize Christian churches and Holy sites and attack Christian clergy in the streets of the Holy City. Ateret Cohanim’s influence extends into the Israeli legal system, enabling it to seize properties from Christian churches, including those of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate around Jaffa Gate, the principal entry point into the Christian and Armenian Quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem.
What is less well known is that Ateret Cohanim benefits from a 501(c)(3) status under the name of “Friends of Ateret Cohanim” in New York, receiving from tax-deductible donations. The IRS has never reviewed the “charity’s” tax status.
There is no doubt that many, many, Israelis oppose the actions of the Netanyahu government and the settlers. They see that the Gaza war has tarnished Israel’s reputation and that Netanyahu and the religious nationalists who control his government have embarked on a path away from democracy and towards a theocratic authoritarian system.
If the President truly wishes to defend Israel, he must also note the threats posed internally. If he cannot stop military aid, he should make it clear that the United States will not tolerate ethnic cleansing. If the US can indict Hamas leaders for October 7th, it can indict Israeli leaders responsible for ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Furthermore, Biden should order an investigation into American financiers of these activities, particularly those claiming charity status in direct violation of American law. Doing so would help restore Biden’s legacy, badly tarnished by his administration’s failure to address the Gaza conflict effectively. It would earn him the gratitude of a significant portion of Israel’s people who oppose transforming their country into a nationalist theocracy.