Top church leaders allege Israeli authorities enable settler extremists in West Bank’s Taybeh

The most senior church leaders in Israel allege that Israeli authorities have facilitated and enabled the presence of settler extremists inside the Christian Palestinian West Bank town of Taybeh, where local residents have reported severe harassment and damage to agricultural land by radical settler activists in recent weeks.

Last week, Taybeh residents said they had witnessed extremist settlers starting a fire next to the ruins of the Church of St. George in the town which damaged a Christian cemetery next to the site.

“The Council of Patriarchs and Heads of Churches calls for these radicals to be held accountable by the Israeli authorities, who facilitate and enable their presence around Taybeh,” say Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa in a joint statement in the town hall of Taybeh.

They also call for “an immediate and transparent investigation into why the Israeli police did not respond to emergency calls from the local community and why these abhorrent actions continue to go unpunished.”

Theophilos and Pizzaballa say Taybeh is facing “an intensifying trend of systemic and targeted attacks,” and call the settler attacks “a direct and intentional threat” to the local Christian community and to “the historic and religious heritage of our ancestors and holy sites.”

Speaking to The Times of Israel, Pizzaballa said that he had been in touch with the Israeli authorities regarding the attacks in Taybeh and had been told they would look into the allegations.

Asked if he believed there would be an effective law enforcement response, however, he said, “I doubt it, but I hope so.”