Since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war, Israelis have been glued to their TV sets and scrolling through news and social media. The ordinarily news-obsessed public has become even more engrossed, and the war has seen the propagation of a point of view that for much of Israel’s media history has been marginal, but has now reached its apex: that of the settler far right.
The settlement movement, originating as a small vanguard of religious Zionists, has expanded exponentially since Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza after the 1967 six-day war. Once perceived as bearded, outsider men patrolling the Hebron hills with Uzis, settlers have significantly increased their influence, becoming key political players. Recent elections have elevated some of the movement’s most extreme figures, such as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, to high positions in government.
