New Tel Aviv University report warns rising Jewish terrorism in the West Bank threatens Israel's rule of law

A new report from the "Conflict to Resolution" research team, under the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) at Tel Aviv University, warns that Jewish terrorism and nationalist crime are accelerating "the breakdown of Israel's state institutions." The INSS describes the phenomenon as a multidimensional threat spanning security, governance, and Israel's international standing.

The report attributes the crisis to a combination of inadequate enforcement, lack of political backing for security agencies, and a weak judicial response, arguing that the absence of a decisive Israeli response "constitutes evidence that it is a policy directed from above."

According to the report, 660 incidents of nationalist crime were recorded in the first half of 2026, a 63% increase compared to the second half of 2025 and a 50% increase year-over-year. In the same period, 140 Palestinians were injured and six killed in acts of Jewish terrorism, with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reporting an average of six such incidents daily.

The report also found targeted attacks by settlers against soldiers, and police rose approximately 36%, to 45 incidents in the first half of 2026, including stone-throwing, physical confrontations, road blockades, and tire-slashing on military vehicles. Senior Central Command officers reportedly told researchers that up to 80% of log entries in certain brigades concern Jewish nationalist crime, and that the need to divert forces has forced the military to cancel planned arrests of Palestinian suspects.

The report says enforcement has largely failed, citing data showing that approximately 94% of investigation files opened over ideologically motivated offenses between 2005 and 2025 were closed without indictment, with only about 3% of cases resulting in conviction. It quotes IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth as saying the violence "does not occur in a vacuum and is fueled by public support," and notes that Central Command officers have acknowledged "failing every day to uphold the law" due to insufficient legal and enforcement tools.

The report ties the violence to broader policy dynamics, describing the use of "agricultural farms" and illegal outposts, backed by state budgets and infrastructure, as tools to displace Palestinians and advance what it calls the "Decisive Plan" for asserting Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.

This dynamic is compounding a fiscal crisis for the Palestinian Authority, worsened by withheld clearance revenues, leaving the PA able to pay only 50%-70% of employee salaries. The PA's weakening financial power could lead its security forces to halt counterterrorism coordination with Israel or turn against Israeli forces.

The report outlines nine recommended courses of action, including establishing a permanent inter-agency task force combining IDF Central Command, police, Shin Bet, the Civil Administration, and the State Attorney's Office; ensuring political backing for law enforcement without interference in individual cases; fully subordinating territorial defense units and community security squads to military authority; evacuating roughly 26 illegal outposts in Area B; enforcing restriction orders with technological monitoring; and confiscating state-provided equipment used in violence.

The INSS concluded that failure to act "jeopardizes" Israel's ability to function as "a responsible state governed by the rule of law," warning that "a democracy that surrenders its duty to defend itself and enforce the law against radical forces within it jeopardizes its very survival."