Israeli ex-generals urge Trump to push Netanyahu on ‘settler terror’

What the report says

Al Jazeera reported that nearly 600 former Israeli military, intelligence, diplomatic and police officials have appealed to United States President Donald Trump to press Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over rising settler violence in the occupied West Bank. The letter, published Tuesday, was written by Commanders for Israel’s Security, a group Al Jazeera described as a Zionist movement made up of more than 550 retired senior Israeli officials from the army, Mossad, Shin Bet, police, foreign service and other bodies.

According to the report, the former officials warned that violence by Israeli settlers could deepen instability in the West Bank and threaten Israeli, US and regional security interests. They argued that Trump was uniquely positioned to avert a wider crisis and urged him to bring up the issue during a scheduled meeting with Netanyahu in Washington, DC. The group also alleged that some members of Israel’s government help enable disorder by shielding settlers and security forces from legal scrutiny.

The appeal followed a weekend of settler attacks and unrest across the occupied West Bank after a deadly shootout in Tal, where Al Jazeera said two Israelis and four Palestinians were killed. Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh said the letter reflected wider concern among parts of Israel’s defence establishment that settlers are increasingly acting independently and placing Israeli soldiers at risk.

Netanyahu’s Washington visit comes during Trump’s second term and amid a pause in the latest Iran-US escalation to allow diplomacy. The West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, remains a central flashpoint, with Israeli settlements widely regarded internationally as illegal, though Israel disputes that characterization.