Washington, DC – In response to today’s deadly violence in the West Bank, which left two Israelis and four Palestinians dead and sparked settler reprisal attacks on multiple Palestinian villages, J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami issued the following statement:

“J Street condemns today’s deadly violence in the West Bank in the strongest possible terms. Two Israelis and four Palestinians are dead. This is the direct and inevitable result of a government that has systematically inflamed tensions, empowered extremists, and allowed a culture of lawlessness to take root throughout the West Bank.

The Netanyahu government’s policies in the West Bank – most notably supporting the dramatic growth of illegal farming outposts – have intensified friction between Israelis and Palestinians. They have also systematically weakened security coordination with the Palestinian Authority and created a fertile breeding ground for settler and Palestinian terrorism alike. The government has armed and emboldened settler militias and provided political cover to those carrying out acts of settler terror.

Netanyahu and his ministers’ responses to today’s tragedy included calls for the IDF to flatten Palestinian communities across the northern West Bank, as well as announcements of home demolitions and work permit revocations. They have even called for the acceleration of settler outpost legalization and construction of new settlements – the very policies that fueled this crisis from the start.

Inflammatory rhetoric and calls for collective punishment exemplify the moral and strategic failure of this government. This is not a security response. It is a political performance that will make Israelis less safe and cost the lives of many more Israelis and Palestinians.

The United States must make clear to Netanyahu that settlement expansion, the deliberate weakening of the Palestinian Authority, and the arming of settler extremists are incompatible with Israel’s security and with American interests in the region.”