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Background on
Settler Violence

Since 1967, Israel has occupied the territory it seized from Jordan on the West Bank of the Jordan River. This territory lies outside Israel’s internationally recognized borders. International laws put in place after World War II specifically forbid the acquisition of territory by force. Occupation is intended as a temporary arrangement after a conflict and is governed by strict laws protecting the welfare of the occupied people. Those laws state that an occupying power may not move its own population into areas it occupies and may not take or use the resources of the occupied area for its own benefit.

Israel has moved more than 700,000 settlers into areas beyond its own borders onto land that has been inhabited for millennia by Palestinians. (See map and move the cursor.) Palestinian land has been confiscated by these illegal settlers, many of whom are newcomers from the United States and other countries. They claim a genetic connection to people who lived in the area more than 2,000 years ago, and with messianic zeal, they have made it their purpose to seize as much territory as possible from the native inhabitants and expel them from their land.

They also seize water supplies that are essential to life in the region. Often, the settlements have swimming pools and green lawns, while families and farms in the Palestinian communities are forced to rely on rainwater or expensive water trucks to survive. In the past few years, some settlers have poisoned Palestinian wells or slaughtered sheep and thrown them into wells, polluting the water supply.

Israel has built segregated roads for settlers alone that traverse the West Bank, dividing Palestinian communities from each other and from their schools and jobs. It has further divided the area with concrete walls and fences, roadblocks and checkpoints, making daily life almost impossible for Palestinians.

Since Hamas fighters from Gaza attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel’s military and settlers have been working together to destroy refugee camps in the West Bank, rip up roads and water pipes, and expel Palestinians. Settlers have been rampaging through the West Bank, attacking Palestinian villages, burning cars, slaughtering livestock, destroying orchards, uprooting crops, and at times beating or killing their inhabitants. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in these attacks. According to the UN, there were over 1,800 documented settler attacks that resulted in casualties or property damage in 2025 alone. These pogroms affect both Christian and Muslim families and villages. They also affect American citizens, some of whom have provided their stories on the following pages.

The American Connection to Settlers

Settler violence is often perpetrated by Americans. It is therefore an issue Congress needs to regard with great urgency. As far back as 2015, a study by Oxford University scholar Sara Hirschhorn estimated that there were roughly 60,000 American Jews living in West Bank settlements. An article in December 2023 stated that “Americans account for only about 15% of the total settler population in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, but their influence outweighs their numbers.” This is because they usually come by choice, as opposed to those who come fleeing persecution. Many have come believing they have a divine mission to drive the Palestinians from these lands. They are armed - often with American weapons - and essentially given a free pass to hunt and harass Christians and Muslims in their villages and homes.

An Israeli settler with a rifle

An Israeli settler armed with an assault rifle in a Palestinian town.
Source: Screen grab from B’tselem video of settler attack on village.

The New York Times published an important article on “Israeli Terrorists, Born in the U.S.A,” that sheds light on the involvement of American citizens in settler terrorism more than a decade ago. This violence has continued and worsened, especially as wars in Gaza, Iran, and Lebanon command global attention. The Israeli human rights group B’tselem devotes a section of its website to describing and documenting recent settler crimes against Palestinians.

There is evidence that US-supplied weapons are being used by settlers and Israeli soldiers against Palestinians. Assault rifles, especially from the United States, have been distributed by far-right members of the Israeli government to settlers in the West Bank, emboldening them.

The IRS has made the situation worse by providing tax deductions for organizations that support the settlements, even though the US State Department has long regarded these colonies beyond Israel’s borders as illegal. This means US taxpayers are subsidizing the settlements as well as arming the settlers. Tax-exempt organizations like Friends of Ir David, Ateret Cohanim, the Hebron Fund, and the Central Fund of Israel hold events to benefit the settlements, and millions of dollars are sent by US residents to support these, including funds for infrastructure and security. A December 2025 report by the Palestine Center for Public Policy sheds more light on this funding. A more complete list of US non-profits funding the settlements is under Resources.

Sales of property in the West Bank settlements often take place at US synagogues, even though the property sold there may legally belong to Palestinians. The American company Airbnb rents properties in illegal settlements in the West Bank, further “normalizing” the takeover of Palestinian lands in violation of international law.