New boycott of West Bank Jews is based on lies

Britain announced this week that it will ban imports from Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria and sanction companies that help those communities grow.France and Canada are following its lead, while other European countries are considering similar restrictions.Their case rests heavily on the claims that Jewish settlements in what they call the “West Bank” are illegal and that “settler violence” has reached epidemic proportions.Before governments start boycotting Jews for where they live, we ought to take a hard look at both claims.Start with the land itself.“Judea and Samaria” are ancient names for the Jewish heartland, found in the Bible and familiar to Christians around the world.Jews have lived there for centuries.Israel liberated the territory from illegal Jordanian occupation in the Six-Day War of 1967, after Jordan attacked Israel.So the claim that Jewish settlements there are illegal are at best arguable and at worst flat-out wrong.The Oslo Accords later divided it into Areas A, B and C, leaving Area C under full Israeli control pending a final accord that the Palestinian Authority never agreed to.Instead, Palestinian terrorists murdered more than 1,000 Israelis in suicide bombings, shootings and other attacks.Today, hundreds of thousands of Israeli Jews live in Judea and Samaria alongside Palestinian communities where terrorist organizations continue to operate and Israelis can risk their lives simply by making a wrong turn.In 2024 alone, Palestinian terrorists carried out more than 6,300 attacks against Jews in Judea and Samaria.That included rock-throwing, Molotov cocktails, roadside bombs, concrete dropped on passing cars and lasers aimed at blinding drivers.Twenty-seven Israelis were killed, more than 300 wounded.Yet listen to the international debate and you would think the great security crisis in Judea and Samaria is “settler violence.”Some Jewish residents do commit violence.

They should be arrested and prosecuted.Prime Minister ...