CALL IT WHAT IT IS – ISRAEL’S ACCELERATED ETHNIC CLEANSING IN THE WEST BANK
Dr. Common Good
While Trump’s feckless Iran war persists, democracy is threatened in the U.S., and the global economy and Western alliance system frays, the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu accelerates its push to force Palestinians out of their homes in the West Bank and establish more and more illegal settlements, to the point where a Palestinian state will become impossible. Far right-wing members of the Israeli government, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (also Religious Zionist Party leader), along with and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (also Otzma Yehudit leader), openly and brazenly reject any international human rights conventions or basic moral standards in this naked exercise in ethnic cleansing. Meanwhile, the Trump administration says nothing, and does nothing.
Lest any reader be concerned about use of the term “ethnic cleansing” in this post, with respect to the situation described, I say that those who falsely label that term as somehow anti-Semitic should bow their heads in shame. That is propaganda, pure and simple. As I have said in multiple previous posts (e.g., March 27, April 26, 2026, and January 26, 2025), what continues apace in the West Bank will not increase Israel’s security. It will not lead to a thriving, productive, democratic Israel. It will, as it has already done, further Israel’s trajectory as an international pariah, breed more and more hatred among the peoples of Palestine and Gaza, and fuel the increasing calls by younger voters in the U.S. to halt all military support for Israel. So, to AIPAC and others who seek to suppress outrage and criticism over Israeli policy, it is you who are damaging Israel, not the critics. Those who stand against the repugnant, immoral policies of the Netanyahu government, and those who advocate for a secure and peaceful coexistence for both Palestinians and Israelis, are actually looking towards a future that is positive and sustainable – not the dystopian, isolated, apartheid security state that is the inevitable consequence of the current path.
Now, before reviewing some facts on the ground, let’s do a little thought exercise as analogous to the West Bank, even if the circumstances in this exercise are by themselves imaginary. Suppose Mexico was much more powerful than the United States, or, to be more specific, much more powerful than Texas. And suppose that Mexico’s power was in large part derived from massive amounts of military weaponry and aid from, say, Russia, or China. Now suppose that, over the course of many decades, people from Mexico increasingly resettled in Texas and just began pushing Texans off their land, sometimes by force, sometimes destroying crops and livestock, burning houses, and physically attacking or killing them. And many of those who committed these acts of violence and theft also claimed a right to do so because that land was once Mexico (which, in fact, it was). Some zealots even claimed that there was no such thing as Texas, and no such people as Texans. I ask you: Would this be right? Would you not condemn this? Would it surprise you if Texans expressed anger at Mexico and those countries that gave it support? Would it surprise you if groups of Texans formed paramilitary units and began resisting the Mexican incursion, in the process committing acts of terrorism? I venture to say that it would not, and I will simply say that a cursory look at actual Texas history will support my claim.
With that in mind, let’s consider a selection of recent facts on the ground:
- According to an August 20, 2026 report from Human Rights Watch, this has been a record year for settler attacks on Palestinians. Attacks by settlers in the occupied West Bank are driving the accelerated and forced displacement of Palestinian communities. Furthermore, the report states that “Israeli authorities are arming, funding, and granting impunity to the violent settlers responsible for these escalating deadly abuses.” The settler attacks include killings, including children, as well as assaults, sexual violence, physical and mental abuse, arbitrary detention, arson, property destruction, and theft.
- The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights recently documented about 190 settler attacks per month in the first four months of 2026, putting the West Bank on a trajectory to reach more than 2,000 attacks by the end of the year.
- In March, the Times of Israel reported that the government had approved about 50 million shekels (about US$16 million) for illegal settlement outposts, funding that has been used for all-terrain vehicles, night-vision goggles, and drones that settlers use to harass Palestinian communities. According to Amnesty International, the Israeli Ministry of Settlement and National Missions’ budget has increased 122 percent under the current government (see Human Rights watch report).
- On July 11, a gang of settlers even attacked a CNN news team that was reporting on the anniversary of the killing of an American citizen in the West Bank. See https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/11/middleeast/settlers-arrested-attack-on-journalists-intl
- With respect to Palestinians in Gaza, CBS News (August 17) reported that Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir claimed that Gazan Palestinians are “not even people.” “I think targeted assassinations should be carried out in Gaza, taking down 30 to 40 every night…I see all of Gaza as ours.”
- Concurrent with the attacks, Israeli settlements policy has proceeded with utter disregard for international law. On August 20, CNN reported that the Israeli government just advanced an internationally condemned settlement plan in the occupied West Bank that could split the territory and destroy the possibility of a two-state solution. The Israeli Housing Ministry issued a notice inviting bids to construct more than 1,200 housing units in the E1 sector of the West Bank, near Jerusalem. This would create a swath of Jewish settlements from East Jerusalem to the West Bank, effectively dividing the West Bank into north and south and precluding a contiguous Palestinian state impossible. When the Israeli government gave final approval to the plan, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, “The Palestinian state is being erased from the table, not with slogans, but with actions.” This was done even as all Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are viewed as illegal under international law by the UN and most of the international community. Yet settlers ignore that consensus and have routinely established new unauthorized settlements. They know that the Israeli government is likely to approve them.
- For reference, Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an occupying power from forcibly transferring, displacing, or deporting the civilian population of an occupied territory in whole or in part – either directly or indirectly, and prohibits the replacement of the displaced persons by the occupier (for more information on this, see Human Rights Watch, International Committee of the Red Cross, and rulings by the International Court of Justice).
Now, let’s revisit the question. Ethnic cleansing? The answer, Dr. Common Good emphatically asserts, is YES. Are you, as an American, willing to support this?