Herzog condemns settler violence as ‘morally shameful’ in response to diaspora letter

Israel’s president Isaac Herzog has issued a firm response to diaspora Jewish leaders, condemning extremist settler violence as a violation of Israel’s core values and pledging action to uphold the rule of law.

In a letter sent from Jerusalem this month, Herzog thanked the signatories for raising concerns about recent attacks in the West Bank, saying he shares their alarm over what he described as a surge in violence by extremist elements.

“I share your conviction that these acts of violence stand in stark contradiction to the values upon which Israel was founded,” he wrote, adding that such incidents “strike at the very foundations of our society and our shared history.”

The president stressed that Jewish ethical tradition places a central emphasis on the sanctity of human life, warning that harming innocent people undermines both the rule of law and Israel’s moral standing.

He said he had raised the issue directly with security and law enforcement officials, calling on them to use “all available means” to bring perpetrators to justice and bring an “immediate end to this unacceptable phenomenon.”

Herzog added that a country governed by law “cannot tolerate violence and vigilantism”, describing such acts as not only harmful to victims but also damaging to Israel’s broader security efforts.

“It is not only a shameful crime against innocents,” he wrote, “it also interferes with the unceasing efforts of military and security agents to contend with clear and present Palestinian terror threats in the region.”

The president also warned that violence by Jewish extremists risks strengthening Israel’s detractors and endangering Jews globally, saying it “plays directly into the hands of Israel’s detractors, fuelling hatred that weakens us as a nation and jeopardises Jews everywhere.”

Referencing the approaching festival of Pesach, Herzog framed the issue in moral and historical terms, recalling the story of Moses as a model of standing up against injustice.

“On the eve of Passover, we are reminded that Moses’s first act of leadership was a moral one – standing up for justice in the face of violence against the innocent,” he wrote.

He concluded by emphasising the need for fair and consistent enforcement of the law to ensure “the safety and wellbeing of all the residents of the area”, and thanked the signatories for their sense of shared responsibility.

The response follows a high-profile letter from more than 1,000 diaspora Jewish figures urging Herzog to press the Israeli government to act decisively against what they termed “Jewish-extremist terror” in the West Bank.