Shin Bet chief condemns 'terrorism' by militant settlers in the West Bank

The head of Shin Bet, Israel's security agency, has warned the country's leaders that Jewish terrorism in the West Bank is out of control and has become a serious threat to national security.

- Julian Borger

Ronen Bar issued the warning in a letter to the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the attorney general and members of the Israeli cabinet, some of whom are outspoken backers of the extremist settlers responsible for the escalating violence.

Bar's letter, sent last week but published by Israel's Channel 12 News on Thursday night, has highlighted the wide, acrimonious gap between the far-right wing of Netanyahu's coalition and Israel's security apparatus.

The national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, one of those criticised by Bar for inflammatory behaviour, called for the Shin Bet head to be fired, triggering a rebuke yesterday from the defence minister, Yoav Gallant.

Bar's letter focused on Jewish extremists known as the "hilltop youth", violent militants who have been conducting a campaign of murder, arson and intimidation against Palestinians in the West Bank, aimed at driving them from their land, furthering the far right's pursuit of complete annexation.

Bar said their actions should not be described as criminality but as terrorism. "It isn't crime because it's the use of violence to create intimidation, to spread fear. That is terror," he wrote, describing how the campaign had "significantly expanded" in the absence of an adequate police response and with the connivance of some national leaders.