Dan Feferman

Israel needs to stop attacks by Jews against Palestinian civilians in Judea and Samaria for moral, national, and legal reasons. Period. But we should have no illusions that even major, successful law enforcement operations will significantly impact the hostile discourse surrounding Israel, for 3 reasons: 1. Documenting "settler violence" has already become an industry, with well-funded NGOs, professional Palestinian activists, European diplomats, UN bureaucrats, and "journalist" accomplices committed to producing a steady stream of reports about violence against "Palestinian olive harvesters" and the like. @bradlander, and future Brad Landers, will need to instigate clashes with "violent settlers" for electoral purposes. UN bureaucrats need to justify their salaries. Left-wing NGOs need to raise money. Even if Israel were to arrest tomorrow the several hundred hardcore Jewish perpetrators of attacks against Palestinian civilians - and I believe Israel should - this NGO/left-wing industry would continue to generate provocations and do whatever is necessary to ensure a steady stream of incidents for it to “document”. 2. Israel's supporters-turned-critics on the left need something to criticize in order to signal to their peers that they are not unequivocal supporters of Israel. If it's not "settler violence," it will be "settlement expansion," "movement restrictions," "disproportionate force," or something else, in order to demonstrate that they support Israel’s “right to exist” but… 3. In many cases, the debate over Israel has to do with political struggles and evolving trends in the U.S. that are not downstream of any particular Israeli action. Rather, they reflect the role that the idea of Israel plays in political, denominational, intergenerational, media, and other power struggles taking place in the U.S. These dynamics will not change as a result of any particular Israeli initiative (or change in government, for that matter). Again, Israel must do a far better job of ensuring law and order, and protecting all civilians, in Judea and Samaria, for its own sake. Doing so is also important for maintaining the support of some of Israel's most consequential friends in the U.S. But those who argue that Israeli actions on this front, whether by the current or a future government, will have a major impact on the anti-Israel discourse in the U.S. are, unfortunately, mistaken.