While Netanyahu mum, Leiter condemns settler violence in Qusra

Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter condemns the siege by settlers of Palestinians in Qusra.

“What we saw in the village of Qusra this week is not what it means to settle the land,” Leiter says in a video statement.

“When a gang of hooligans wreaks havoc with gratuitous violence, diverting energy from Israel’s own military and law enforcement, while claiming that it is for the sake of the land – that is a distortion, even a sacrilege,” he argues. “The Land of Israel is not only a place we are commanded to inhabit. It is a place where we are commanded to live by justice.”

Leiter is one of the first Israeli officials to publicly condemn the violence in Qusra, though the White House was apparently hoping that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would weigh in on the matter himself.

While the IDF has also called out the violence, it has yet to clear the settlers from the area, and they continue to maintain a siege of two Palestinian homes.

None of the settlers involved in the siege — including those who cut the homes’ electricity and water lines — have been arrested.

Netanyahu’s government has been accused of ignoring and sometimes tacitly backing such attacks.

This week's Torah portion is a great reminder that, as we are commanded to settle and inhabit the land, we must build a society that is worthy of the land we live in.

Shabbat Shalom ????️????️ pic.twitter.com/eULqoluS4X

— Ambassador Yechiel (Michael) Leiter (@yechielleiter) August 14, 2026