Opposition lawmakers condemn settler violence as ‘Kristallnacht’

By Ariela Karmel

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22 March 2026, 1:38 pm

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

A Palestinian woman and boy walk past Hebrew graffiti (reading: "Binyamin") on the walls of a damaged house following a reported attack by extremist settlers in Jalud village, south of Nablus in the West Bank, on March 22, 2026. (JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)

Several opposition figures condemn widespread attacks by extremist settlers on Palestinians in some 20 locations across the West Bank on Saturday night, with Arab-majority Hadash-Ta’al party leader Ayman Odeh calling the events a “night of fire” and Hadash MK Ofer Cassif comparing the ongoing wave of violence to Kristallnacht.

“Kristallnacht has become the daily reality in the lives of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank under the auspices of the occupation army,” Cassif says, referring in a post on X to the 1938 Nazi pogrom against Jews in Germany and Austria, in which synagogues, Jewish homes and businesses were destroyed and thousands were assaulted and arrested.

Odeh writes in a post on X, “Settlers carried out an expansive pogrom lasting more than six hours, harming more than 14 villages, attacking dozens of Palestinians, and not one of them was arrested.”

A Palestinian boy looks at a burnt vehicle following an attack by extremist settlers in the village of Jalud, south of Nablus in the West Bank, on March 22, 2026. (JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)

“If the army wanted to stop settler terrorism, it would be able to do so within days,” he alleges. “What is happening across the West Bank is not an accident; it is a policy of terrorism and ethnic cleansing, with the backing of the government and the protection of the army.”

Left-wing Democrats party leader Yair Golan laments what he says is “Jewish terrorism” and “an abandonment of the security of Israel,” especially as the country is already fighting a war against Iran and Hezbollah.

“It is incumbent on the IDF chief of staff and Shin Bet head to show leadership, and act with an iron fist against the rioters,” he says in a post on X.

Democrats MK Gilad Kariv writes on X that “the destruction was preceded by explicit calls and advance planning that drew no response from the IDF, the Shin Bet, or the police.”

The violence was seemingly precipitated by the death of an 18-year-old Israeli settler killed when the ATV he was traveling in was hit by a Palestinian vehicle in the West Bank on Saturday.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who oversees the police, pays tribute to Sherman, claiming that he was “murdered in the defense” of the land.

Leon Kraiem and Charlie Summers contributed to this report.