Herzog Warns Netanyahu of Impending Disaster Amid West Bank Violence
Israeli President Isaac Herzog warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defense chiefs that nationalist violence in the West Bank is pushing the country toward a disaster and potential civil war, urging immediate enforcement action.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog sent a sharp warning letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and National Security Council head Shmuel Ben-Ezra, cautioning against the escalating danger of Jewish nationalist violence in the West Bank. Originally sent in October, the letter was recently distributed to senior General Staff officials, the Attorney General, and the Foreign Minister.
"I feel a deep and urgent obligation to write to you from the bottom of my heart, to warn you about the situation I have been exposed to, as we are a hair's breadth from disaster," Herzog wrote. Citing a briefing he received from West Bank Division Commander Brig. Gen. Kobi Heller, the president described a relentless surge of nationalist violence, including arson, tree-felling, stone-throwing, and livestock theft.
Herzog warned that security forces are being forced into complex operational dilemmas that could result in live-fire incidents between soldiers and Israeli citizens, or fatal clashes with Border Police. Such a scenario, he cautioned, risks igniting a civil war. He stressed that the phenomenon must be treated as organized criminal activity rather than isolated incidents.
Calling for immediate action, the president urged the formation of an inter-ministerial task force, expanded administrative detentions, and a coordinated crackdown to dismantle violent extremist groups before the situation spirals out of control.
