Netanyahu claims to UN that settler violence is work of ‘handful of juvenile delinquents’

Speaking to the UN, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the international media focuses on a “handful of juvenile delinquents” responsible for settler violence in the West Bank.

He says “he can’t stand vigilantism” and that he set the Shin Bet intelligence agency on them.

He says that settler violence only leads to 2 or 3 casualties a year.

Settler violence and harassment have surged in recent months, with near-daily incidents. Arrests and convictions are rare, and critics accuse the government of condoning or even encouraging it.

Turning to French President Emmanuel Macron, who claimed from the same UN podium that Hamas “never operated” in the West Bank, he stresses that a French citizen was killed on Sunday, shortly before Yom Kippur, in the territory.

He then turns to the ramming attack that seriously hurt IDF reservist Neria Leiter: “He’s fighting for his life now in a Jerusalem hospital.”

He speaks about the soldier’s father, Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, whose pain Netanyahu says is “immeasurable.”

“Despite the pain, despite the agony, we do not give in,” he says.

He cites a recent post by Neria: “We have no other country. And it’s a privilege to defend it.”

“Your sacrifice will not be in vain. We will continue to fight, and we will continue to win because we have no other choice,” he says.