‘The army stood by,’ write journalists who see themselves as opponents of the occupation, saying the IDF ‘has the legal and moral duty to protect Palestinians,’ but the army cannot protect those whom it is oppressing.
By Hanin Majadli, Reposted from Haaretz, October 23, 2025
This year, like every year, the harvest season in the West Bank has suffered a bloody start. Before the sun has risen, settlers are already coming down to the fields and orchards, setting fire to trees, stealing olives that have been harvested, assaulting shepherds, shooting at Palestinians, and harming livestock.
The army, which is deployed at the scene, does not crack down on the rioters but on the Palestinians. It is no longer a case of anarchy perpetrated by “hilltop youth” or “bad weeds,” but rather a routine, an act of messianic conquest.
The harvest season, however, is only part of the reality; the violence is not seasonal but perpetual. Over the entire year, the occupation machine works at a steady pace, expelling shepherds, stealing water, closing roads to Palestinians, destroying homes, and confiscating land. The army and the settlers act in coordination as two instruments of the same sovereign, one in uniform and the other in civilian clothes; one makes laws and the other acts.
For Palestinians, there is no difference between them. The army and the settlers engage in the same institutionalized violence and the same control. The settlers are the army’s auxiliary force and the most effective catalyst for transfer.
And when the Israeli media reports on this violence, it does so by minimizing what is really happening. “The army stood by,” write journalists who see themselves as opponents of the occupation, followed almost automatically by, “The army has the legal and moral duty to protect the Palestinian population.” It uses language that sounds moral and objective, but in fact serves to deny and maintain the status quo.
The truth is that the army does not “stand by.” It is actually very present. It protects the Jews and arrests the Palestinians who are being attacked. The Israel Defense Forces is not a police force, as it is portrayed and is supposed to be. If the journalists are opponents of the occupation, what do those who do not take a stand do?
But there is a deeper problem than how these events are reported. It lies in liberal Israelis’ perception of the occupation as an “interim situation,” a passing phenomenon, a condition that can be managed “properly.” But in the West Bank, there is no “interim.” After almost six decades, it is no longer a political moment; it is a way of life.
International law speaks about the “obligations of an occupying power,” but the Israeli occupation long ago ceased to be an “occupation.” It has turned into a permanent regime. Therefore, to call on the IDF “to protect Palestinians” is like asking the butcher to treat the calf kindly. It is a dangerous dualism that assumes that the violence of the occupation is an aberration that can be corrected and is not the essence of Israeli rule. The army cannot protect those whom it is oppressing.
And within this language, within the space of crimes described as sins of omission, perhaps only one act remains that has a measure of honesty: protective presence. Jewish activists – some Israelis, some from abroad – travel to the territories to physically stand between criminal Jews and the occupation army, alongside Palestinians.
It is not a heroic act. But they could have been content to stand in Kaplan and feel sufficiently leftist. And for that, as a Palestinian who cannot protect her people and knows the Israeli reality, I owe them my respect. It’s the human minimum and their duty as Israelis who want to dismantle the mechanism of occupation and apartheid.
As of 2025, this defensive presence is perhaps all that is left of the Israeli resistance that has any practical effect.
Hanin Majadli is a reporter for Haaretz.
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