Political sources in Tel Aviv said on Wednesday that the settler organization Hilltop Youth, which carries out attacks against Palestinians and even Israeli soldiers, has devised a plan to place its representatives within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party to influence decision-making in favor of settlement expansion and strengthen its political sway.
The sources said the group manages its political campaign alongside hundreds of its members’ attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, which include shootings, physical assaults, arson of vehicles and homes, targeting of olive harvesters, land seizures, and the establishment of new settlement outposts.
Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper published an internal post by the group on Wednesday, stating: “We in the hills are running representatives for the Likud Central Committee in the Binyamin branch. For many long years we have been facing challenges from within and without, physically preventing Palestinian takeover of our land. In order to continue succeeding in this important mission, we are trying to bring several representatives from the hills into the Likud Central Committee, so we can influence Knesset members and ministers.”
Sources told the newspaper that the initiative is still in its early stages, and it is difficult to predict how successful the group will be in Likud’s internal elections for the next Knesset candidate list. Israel Ganz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council, is also head of Samaria Settlements in the Nablus area, who last week criticized Hilltop Youth after its members attacked Israeli soldiers.
The group considers him conciliatory and has called for his removal.
Former Detainees
Yedioth Ahronoth noted that some members of the organization are “highly problematic individuals, some of whom were previously detained on suspicion of nationalist crimes.”
The infiltration of Hilltop Youth into Likud has been ongoing for years but remained largely unpublicized. The announcement comes after the evacuation of an unauthorized settlement outpost this week, which sparked disagreements between settler leaders and the organization.
The evacuated outpost had been occupied by Hilltop Youth members, who seized the land without coordinating with any authority, effectively declaring themselves its owners. The land was earmarked by the Gush Etzion Settlement Council and the outpost legalization directorate under Minister Bezalel Smotrich for the construction of hundreds of new housing units.
The newspaper said the outpost mirrors similar unauthorized settlements across the West Bank, all established after Hilltop Youth seized land. The group fears that other outposts may be evacuated to allow settlement expansion or new outpost construction, one of the reasons behind its move to submit a candidate list to Likud.
The report added that supporters of the Hilltop Youth list are “extremists who have been arrested and questioned by Shin Bet on suspicion of nationalist (terrorist) crimes.”
Even when they presented their list at Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv, police detained one member on suspicion of carrying out “price tag” attacks against Palestinians.
Upcoming Party Elections
Internal elections for Likud’s candidate list for the upcoming general Knesset elections are scheduled for next week. Hilltop Youth representatives will participate in determining who will sit on the party’s Central Committee for the coming years.
The Hilltop Youth list will compete with other Likud factions, including one led by Israel Ganz and another by Likud MK Avichai Boaron.
In response to rising Hilltop Youth violence, Netanyahu announced on Tuesday that he would hold two meetings on Thursday to address the phenomenon, focusing on settler terrorism through “educational measures” in one session and “legal tools” in the other.
Israeli media reported that Security Minister Israel Katz, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, and two ministers associated with extremist settlers, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, along with police officials, the government coordinator for the occupied territories, and Shin Bet representatives, were invited to attend.
Government sources said they expect Shin Bet chief David Zini to recommend monitoring Hilltop Youth members with electronic ankle monitors, though the cabinet is not expected to approve such a measure.
