PM to settler leaders: We cannot tolerate extremists ‘taking the law into their hands’

In a meeting with local council leaders from West Bank settlements, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns about a minority of extremists carrying out violent activity that could lead to an escalation in the area.

There are a “handful of extremists who do not represent the group sitting here, who cause great damage to the State of Israel,” Netanyahu tells the settler leaders.

Netanyahu says that while most West Bank settlers are law-abiding people who contribute a great deal to the country, “there is a tiny handful of people… who take the law into their own hands.”

“We are not prepared to tolerate this,” he says, “and we will work against this in every way. It causes huge international damage to the State of Israel and does not represent the people sitting here.”

Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, there have been a number of reported incidents of settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank including multiple deaths.