Netanyahu: I told Biden accusations of violence by settler movement are ‘baseless’

After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a statement saying that he condemned during a meeting with settler leaders the “small handful of [Jewish] extremists” who have carried out attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, his office issues another quote from the meeting, apparently aimed at preventing backlash from settler leaders over the earlier remark.

“I told President Biden that the accusations against the settlement movement are baseless,” Netanyahu is quoted as having told the settler leaders, according to the second quote released from his office.

“There is a small extreme minority that does not come from the settlement movement. We condemn them and will deal with them with all the severity of the law,” Netanyahu claimed to have told Biden.

Those who have been arrested over incidents of settler violence have, in fact, been settlers. The suspect arrested for killing a Palestinian farmer last month is from the settlement of Rehelim in the northern West Bank.