Benjamin Netanyahu accused of shielding Jewish terrorists

Investigations into Jewish terrorism are being obstructed by Benjamin Netanyahu, Haaretz has uncovered in a new investigation. According to the report, the Israeli prime minister personally intervened to block Israel’s Shin Bet security agency from pursuing surveillance and wiretaps on Jewish extremists suspected of committing terror attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The move has sparked alarm inside Israel’s security establishment, with senior officials describing it as “unprecedented” and “dangerous”.

The revelations, published by Haaretz, expose how Netanyahu’s far-right government has provided political cover to extremist settlers, granting them impunity to escalate violence and terrorise Palestinians. This obstruction of justice, security officials warn, risks undermining national security and emboldening Jewish terrorists.

Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar is reported to have sent a private letter to Netanyahu several weeks ago protesting the prime minister’s refusal to authorise surveillance operations in several high-risk cases. In the letter, Bar warned that the political blockages were harming vital national security work. Only after the letter was circulated to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara did Netanyahu finally reverse his position and approve the wiretaps.

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The Prime Minister’s Office claimed that Netanyahu was seeking “clarification” after leaked recordings appeared to show Shin Bet operatives discussing arrests without sufficient evidence. However, sources inside Shin Bet said the recordings were manipulated and used to discredit senior officials working to curb Jewish terrorism.

This is not the first time Bar has raised concerns. In an earlier letter disclosed by Channel 12, Bar warned about Jewish terrorist groups known as the Hilltop Youths. Barr said: “The ‘hilltop youth’ phenomenon has long become a broad field of violent activity against Palestinians. I never connected with the concept of ‘nationalist crime.’ It is not a crime because violence is employed for the purpose of instilling fear – that is, terrorism.”

The term “nationalist crime” is commonly used by Israeli authorities to describe attacks by Jewish extremists on Palestinians, but Bar rejects the euphemism, insisting such acts are not simply ideologically motivated offences but acts of terror intended to terrorise a population.

The far-right influence is clearest in the illegally occupied West Bank, where violence by Israeli settlers has dramatically intensified. Under National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, police oversight has been curbed, and surveillance of Jewish extremists has been reduced to a minimum. In another example of the apartheid regime installed by Israel, administrative detention, regularly used against Palestinians without charge or trial, has been halted for Jewish terrorists.

Netanyahu’s intervention mirrors a broader political strategy in which settler violence is not only tolerated but quietly encouraged. The pogrom in the Palestinian town of Huwara in February 2023 – when settlers burned homes and cars following the killing of two Israelis – exemplifies this approach. Israeli forces did little to stop the attack. Jewish terrorists also rampaged through Qusra, Burin, and other West Bank communities, often under army protection.

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