Israel is gradually losing its control and governance in Judea and Samaria
One act of violence follows another, the Chief of Staff is required to convene urgent situation assessments, and the American administration expresses growing concern over the helplessness of the Israeli security system in the face of Jewish terror in Judea and Samaria. Beyond the political damage, this is a moral stain cast upon Israeli society as a whole.
The time has come to abandon the euphemisms. Expressions like "hilltop youth," "price tag," "disturbances," "nationalist crime," and even "rioters" no longer reflect the severity of the reality. It must be recognized that Israel is gradually losing its control and governance in Judea and Samaria. This loss of control does not stem from Palestinian terror—which, thanks to the Central Command's operational activity, has dropped to very low levels—but from the spread of Jewish terror, which stains Israel and harms the vast majority of law-abiding citizens living in the settlements.
The current deterioration is the product of a continuous process, at the center of which is the erosion of Israel's complex operational concept in the territories captured in the Six-Day War. This concept was intended to allow for the existence of a settlement enterprise of strategic importance in the heart of a hostile population.
The collapse of restraint mechanisms
When I commanded the Hebron sector in 2010–2012, four restraint mechanisms were at my disposal as an operational "iron fist." Skilled IDF and Border Police forces, alongside elite units and Shin Bet intelligence, functioned as a sophisticated machine that operated using the "mowing the grass" method to damage terrorist infrastructure. Today, it is evident that these four brakes have been worn down:
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The Civil Administration: Responsible for illegal construction. Since responsibility passed to Minister Smotrich, it has ceased to perform its balancing role.
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Israel Police (Judea and Samaria District): Since Minister Ben Gvir took charge, enforcement against nationalist crime seems to have stopped.
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Shin Bet's Jewish Terror Division: Following the resignation of its head after criticism regarding arrests of extreme right-wing activists, the division struggles to fulfill its mission.
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The Military Advocate General: Damaged reputationally following the Sde Teiman affair, it is failing to enforce orders on military personnel effectively.
The result is the collapse of the systemic concept of the State of Israel. The IDF has been left alone, without the brakes that allowed it to govern as the army of a democratic state.
The tactical shift after October 7
This collapse is accompanied by a deep challenge: the shift in Israeli society and the tactical echelon after the October 7 massacre. We are witnessing fighters who no longer believe in the existence of innocents on the Palestinian side, and regional defense soldiers bringing personal ideologies that contradict official orders into their military activity. The senior command lacks the courage to command firmly in the face of this reality.
Settlement in the periphery has always been a vital component of Israel's security. The vast majority of settlers are law-abiding citizens who abhor Jewish terror, but they are afraid to uproot the phenomenon from among them. They refrain from demanding that the ministers representing them use their authority: for Ben Gvir to activate the police, for Smotrich to enforce the law against illegal construction, and for the Minister of Defense to empower the Shin Bet to use administrative detention against Jewish terrorists.
As long as this does not happen, the leadership of Religious Zionism is cutting the branch on which it sits. To restore governance, we do not need more cabinet discussions; we must return to the foundations of the operational concept that allowed us to defeat terror and remain human.
Brigadier General (Res.) Guy Hazut, Senior Researcher at INSS and former Hebron Brigade Commander.
