Former Israeli defense minister says violence by occupiers in West Bank amounts to 'ethnic cleansing'

Former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said Wednesday that violence and dispossession by Israeli occupiers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank amount to "ethnic cleansing."

He said Israel cannot dismiss international sanctions by accusing other countries of "antisemitism."

"In light of the decision by certain countries to impose sanctions on us, due to Jewish riots and terrorism in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and the Jordan Valley, we cannot absolve ourselves by accusing these countries of 'antisemitism,'" Ya'alon wrote on the US social media company X.

Ya'alon said Israel's next government must take responsibility for developments in the territory and stop what he described as funding and the encouragement of Israelis who violently dispossess Palestinians.

"The next government must take responsibility for what is happening in the area, stop funding and encouraging the rioters who dispossess Arabs from their land with severe violence (including murder), steal their property, and establish farms and outposts in their place," he said.

"What is this if not ethnic cleansing!?" he added.

The former defense minister also urged the appointment of a defense minister who will allow the Israeli army to act against "Jewish terrorism."

He urged authorities to restore coordination among the Civil Administration, Israeli police, Shin Bet internal security agency and the army under the regional military command, and reinstate administrative detention against "Jewish terrorists."

Ya'alon said even some leaders of the illegal settlement movement recognize that violence by "the Jewish rioters and their acts of terrorism" threatens the wider settlement enterprise, but that few are willing to speak publicly about it.

He demanded that Netanyahu's government be ousted, accusing it of endangering Israel and the illegal settlements.

His remarks came after France, the UK, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and Canada announced plans Tuesday to impose trade restrictions on goods originating from the Israeli settlements.

Britain separately announced an import ban on goods from illegal Israeli settlements and additional sanctions against extremist occupiers accused of supporting or inciting violence against Palestinians. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said his government agreed that "ethnic cleansing of Palestinians" is taking place in the occupied West Bank perpetrated by Israeli "settler terrorists."

The sanctions come amid escalating attacks by the Israeli army and Israeli occupiers in the occupied West Bank since the start of the genocide in the Gaza Strip in October 2023. Palestinian authorities have documented killings, arrests, home demolitions, attacks on mosques and vehicles, destruction of agricultural land, restrictions on farmers' access to their property and forced displacement.

Around 750,000 Israeli occupiers live in 156 illegal settlements and 360 outposts in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to Palestinian figures.

Palestinians warn that Israeli operations and occupier violence are paving the way for the formal annexation of the West Bank, which would undermine the establishment of a Palestinian state under UN resolutions.