Israeli settler violence pressure on US

In late July 2026, around 600 senior former Israeli security, military and diplomatic figures—including ex‑prime ministers Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak—sent an open letter to U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The signatories warned that escalating settler terrorism in the West Bank posed a greater threat to Israel’s security and international standing than the Oct 7 Hamas attacks and urged Trump to press Netanyahu to curb extremist settler activity.

A week later, the same group, organized as Commanders for Israel's Security, reiterated the appeal in a second letter, emphasizing that unchecked settler attacks on Palestinians could spark a broader regional conflict and endanger the security of Israel, the United States, and the Middle East. The follow‑up note also highlighted a separate incident: National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir verbally assaulted a Palestinian female detainee in Ofer prison, underscoring a pattern of harsh treatment of Palestinian prisoners and referencing a controversial “crocodile‑pit” project at a Negev detention facility.