RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesx whatsapp-stroke copylink google Add Al Jazeera on Google info play video play video Video Duration 02 minutes 21 seconds play-arrow 02:21 Netanyahu heads to Washington as Israeli ex-officials urge Trump to curb West Bank violence
Hundreds of former Israeli military, diplomatic, and intelligence officials are asking United States President Donald Trump to urge Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to curb “settler terror” in the occupied West Bank.
In a letter published on Tuesday, the nearly 600 former officials appealed to Trump, saying he was the only one capable of helping to avoid the “calamity” of escalating violence in the West Bank and its implications for Israeli, US, and regional security.
“Unless arrested swiftly and decisively, escalating violence in the West Bank is poised to ignite the region and carries severe ramifications for both Israeli security and U.S. regional interests,” the letter, written by lobby group Commanders for Israel’s Security (CIS), said.
“It is our professional judgment that no one but you, Mr. President, can avert this calamity,” it said.
CIS is a Zionist movement of more than 550 retired Israeli army colonels and generals, as well as equivalent ranks in Mossad, Shin Bet, Israeli Police, the foreign service, and other corps.
The group’s stated mission is “securing Israel’s future as the strong democratic home of the Jewish people”.
CIS also wrote that it is “no secret” that certain government members “orchestrate much of this chaos”, including by protecting settlers and Israeli forces from the scrutiny of the law.
The “swell in Jewish settler terror activity” risks consequences that may prove even more catastrophic than the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and its multi-front fallout, the group said.
The group called on Trump to raise the issue with Netanyahu in their meeting in Washington, DC, on Tuesday.
The letter comes after widespread pogroms and violence by Israeli settlers across the occupied West Bank over the weekend following a deadly shootout in the town of Tal in which two Israelis and four Palestinians were killed.
Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh said the letter aligns with other warnings from the Israeli defence establishment against Israeli settlers “taking on the initiative” and “calling the shots” on behalf of the Israeli army, and “putting even Israeli soldiers in harm’s way”.
Netanyahu is due to meet Trump on Tuesday in his seventh trip to the White House during Trump’s second term.
His trip comes as the latest escalation in fighting between Iran and the US is paused to give space for diplomatic efforts.
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