All language subtitles for louis_theroux_the_settlers_2025

Do you want to show where we are right
now? Because I think we're quite deep

inside what are called the Palestinian
territories.

What you call the Palestinian
territories, I call it the heart of

If you say the Palestinian territories,
you're essentially already saying that

this right here, right here is going to
be a jihadist Palestinian.

states right in the heart of israel not
only in the heart of israel we're

talking about like but why do you say
jihadist why not why couldn't it just be

palestinian state okay to understand the
arab way of thinking that they

understand there's a war they win the
war if they get territory they lose the

war if they lose territory you could
flip that and say well that's what in a

sense you're doing that's what i aspire
to do that's what i aspire to do

Beyond the eastern edge of Israel is the
Palestinian territory of the West Bank.

It was occupied in war by Israel in
1967.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of
Jewish settlers have moved here

under international law.

Among them, the group of religious
nationalists who see it as their divine

to build a greater Israel.

and drive out the Palestinians who've
been here for generations.

I made a film about them in 2011.

But now, since the attack of October
7th, I'd heard that they were

the settlement process.

Why are you filming me?

While being protected by the Israeli
military.

I'd come to try to understand their
mindset.

and to see the consequences of their
ultra -nationalist vision up close.

They don't see us as equal human beings
who deserve the same rights they do.

I was close to Israel's southern border.

At a viewpoint, tourists were surveying
the ruins of Gaza.

The Palestinian death toll at this point
was more than 43 ,000 and rising.

In a war that had commenced a year
earlier, after Hamas gunmen attacked

communities, killing more than a
thousand and taking hundreds more

Now with bombs falling nearby, settlers
from across the West Bank were holding a

jamboree to promote the idea of putting
new Jewish outposts in Gaza, with

workshops offering practical advice
while a vanguard made their case in

the world's media.

How are you doing, Louis?

Nice to meet you, Orvit.

Orvit, and why are you here today?

To show support.

and that I believe that Gaza is ours and
that we need to be living there.

To those Palestinians who say, well,
we'd like to live in a Palestinian

what do you say?

The Bible says this place was given to
the Jews.

This place is ours.

Ours meaning?

It's a Jewish name.

What's your name?

Aaron. Aaron, nice to meet you. Louis.

Where are you from? I'm from Hebron.
Before that, until I was nine years old,

lived in New York. And then my parents
made a riyah to Israel.

We're here.

Call our government to go and settle
Gaza.

We're here because we have a right to be
here. Our right to be in this land is

the Torah, is the godly promise.

Where we don't settle, terror grows.

Among the attendees were many senior
political figures.

including Israel's Minister of National
Security.

In

his

youth, Itamar Ben -Gavir had been
convicted of incitement of racism.

He is himself a settler, but in a sign
of the changing times, he now sits in

government of Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu.

Presiding over the event was the
godmother of the settler movement,

Weiss.

Daniela, this is your event, isn't it?
Tell me about what this is. No, no, no,

not now, not now.

Ten words.

No, no, no, not now, not now.

We, the settlement movement, organized
this event

in order to enhance the practical idea

of establishing Jewish settlements in
the entire

Gaza Strip.

We very much encourage and enable the
population in Gaza to go to

other countries.

You will witness how Jews go to Gaza and
Arabs disappear

from Gaza. They lost their right to stay
in this holy place.

Please go.

Thank you very much.

From up on a nearby hill, there came the
sound of protesting.

An Israeli group demonstrating for a
thief fire and the return of hostages

by Hamas.

What are you doing here?

I think the idea of resettling Gaza is
absolutely ridiculous.

The question is, what kind of country do
we want to be? Do we want to be a

colonising country?

Or do we want to be a country that at
least...

who offers peace and wants to live in
peace with the Palestinians.

That has to be what we strive for.

I'd been hoping for a moment with
Daniela, but then came a warning of a

rocket attack and the event was quickly
evacuated.

Let's grab the cameras and let's go.

For Jewish settlers, Gaza is the latest
frontier in a process that's been

unfolding for decades across the West
Bank.

A region of not much more than 5 ,000
square kilometers, the West Bank is home

to around 3 million Palestinians, most
of them living in large cities with

limited autonomy under the Palestinian
Authority.

The Israeli military occupied the area
in the Six -Day War in 1967.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of
Israelis have moved in to form

hoping to expand Jewish presence in the
region or simply looking for cheap

housing.

Often they start out as a few tents or
caravans pitched by ultra -ideological

settlers on hilltops next to Palestinian
towns.

These are known as outposts.

They are illegal under Israeli law until
they are authorized as settlements.

But both settlements and outposts are
illegal under international law.

The army nevertheless protects them.

Hello. How are you?

Everything's great. Where are you from?

London, England.

Oh, nice.

Where are you from?

Russia. Russia.

Most settlements tend to be suspicious
of media.

But I'd managed to get an appointment at
one called Eviatar.

It had started out as an outpost on the
edge of the Palestinian town of Beitar.

It was only recognised as a settlement
by the Israeli state a few months

earlier.

Hi there, good morning. Good morning,
how are you?

I'm fine, how are you doing? You must be
Malkiel. Yes, I am. I'm Louis, how do

you do? I'm fine, thank you. Thank you
for having us. Thank you for coming.

One of its founders is horse wrangler
Malkiel Barhai.

All right, so let me show you a bit
about Viet Thao.

I'm just going to have to ask you not to
take any films of the army base.

That's where they're sitting.

So there's an army base there?

This is an army base. That's where the
dormitories are.

And this is a house for people living
here.

The army base is for your security? For
all the region's security.

The story about Viet Thao, this was
Hilltop.

We started from day one living in tents.
And by the end of the month, we were 50

families living here in these houses.

All of these houses were built back
then.

Coming from where?

All over the country.

Should we go inside?

All right.

It is a little untidy.

So this is where you're living at the
moment?

Yes.

This is our humble home.

This is our living room, our kitchen.

How many children do you have? Eight.

Four boys and four girls.

Wow. Behind here we have another kid's
room.

This is a girl's bedroom.

Two older girls, 13 and 11, they sleep
here.

And over there is the laundry, bathroom
and the shower.

So where do you stay, mum and dad?

This is me and my wife. You and your
wife are in there.

If it rains? Yeah, if it does rain, so
we'll go into the small caravan.

Hopefully we'll finish building the
house before winter is here.

Do you enjoy being out on the frontier,
where it's a bit more rough and ready,

where there's more uncertainty?

Our mission is to settle Israel, new
settlements all over the country.

So most of the world sees this as the
West Bank?

As occupied territory, it's under a
military occupation, correct? Like it's

part of the state of Israel as most
nations recognize it.

The ancient name of this area is called
Judea.

The meaning of Judea is it belongs to
the Jews.

So you can't take all the history, put
it in the garbage and say, OK, it does

not belong to the Jews.

The history says it belongs to Israel.

with a selective reading of history that
ignores the Palestinians who've lived

in the land for generations.

The aim for settlements like Eviatar is
to become full -fledged town, guarded

round the clock by soldiers, walled off
from the millions around them.

The godmother of the settler project,
going back more than 50 years, is the

woman I'd seen at the Gaza border event,
Daniela Weiss.

I want to see big cities here, like a
city of two million people.

So it's not a settlement. Settlement is
caravans, trailers, a home here and a

home there. This is not what my dream is
about.

The trailers in that video of Daniela
have now grown into the settlement of

Kedumim, where she still lives.

Supported by some in the Israeli
government, Daniela's viewed by others

as a dangerous extremist.

She'd agreed to talk to me at home.

Nice to see you.

So we've got pictures of you as a young
woman.

Is the one of you getting married, is
that the oldest one?

This is when we got together. I was then
15 or something.

Your parents were from?

My mother was born in Warsaw.

My parents came here and invested
fortune, believing that

someday there will be a Jewish state.

With their vision and their faith, I
continue to expand

Israel and to be as close as possible to
the promised land.

This is your map.

So this is what most of the world knows
as the West Bank, which you call Judea

and Samaria.

This is what you call occupied West
Bank.

And what the Palestinians would like to
see is a future state of their own.

Oh, they are not satisfied with this,
but complicated issue.

These little pink wedges, what do they
represent?

The Jewish communities that were
established.

since in 1967.

I'm curious to know roughly how many
settlements and outposts you've been,

say, in some way involved in.

Almost everyone.

For real? It's 50 years.

You know what it means, 50 years, that I
do what I do today?

Because it's territory that was won in
the 1967 war, that under the Geneva

Convention, transferring a civilian
population into a conquered terrain.

that that's considered a war crime.

What I do here is a war crime.

According to the UN.

And you're cooperating with the person
who committed the war crime? Well, I'm

interviewing you.

It's a light felony.

I've read a couple of things suggesting
that you were viewed as an extremist and

possibly sympathizing with Jewish or
Israeli terror.

The confrontation...

It's not over terror.

The confrontation is just on whether yes
or no.

The quote, so alarming is the situation.

It's talking about the situation of
settlers and what they describe as

extremism and violence.

Last week, Ronan Barr, the head of
Israel's security service, wrote to

Netanyahu, the prime minister and the
defense minister, warning that what he

called Jewish terror.

by violent settlers was doing
indescribable damage to Israel.

The reason Ronen Bar says that I'm
extremist has nothing to do with terror.

Whatever I represent threatens his
peaceful, secular life.

I have nothing to do with terror. He
knows I have nothing to do with terror.

And he insists on saying it.

It's a lie.

And he knows that it's a lie.

Does that really explain it? He doesn't
like me.

Because I have a lot of influence, much
more than he is.

Influence over who?

The young generation that is growing in
Israel.

And government too?

And government what? Do you have
influence over government?

No question. Who did all this?

Can you call Netanyahu?

What do you mean? Like this?

No, I call Israel.

So the idea is to force the government
by putting people, starts with small

settlements, then they get bigger, then
they get recognized by the state of

Israel and basically creating a new
demographic reality.

We do not force the government. We do
for governments what they cannot do for

themselves.

Even if you take Netanyahu now, he's
very happy with what we do here and also

about our plans.

to build Jewish communities in Gaza.
He's happy about it, but he cannot say

He says the opposite.

It's not realistic.

Good!

We will make it realistic.

It's not forcing the government.

It's helping the government.

It's step number one in politics.

You don't force the government, you give
the government the courage, the

ability, the public support, the
political support.

I think you understand what I said, even
if you disagree.

There was something unsettling about
hearing Daniela's ethno -nationalist

being laid out so plainly.

especially when I considered the support
she claimed to have from some in power.

With their backing, the settlement
project has accelerated, with many of

going to live in West Bank settlements
coming from other countries.

Anyone from anywhere in the world with
Jewish heritage, since they qualify for

Israeli citizenship, can live in a
settlement.

Well, consider this an invitation,
because I could try to describe it to

words, but it'd just be impossible.

Ari Abramovitz was born and raised in
Texas.

He now helps run Arugot Farm, a small
retreat hosting birthdays, weddings, and

corporate events, often catering to
tourists.

The farm was established as an outpost
in 2014, illegally, according to

international law, on land deep inside
the occupied West Bank.

Hi. We're going to Aragot Farm.

Thank you.

Are you Ari? I am.

There you are.

How are you doing? Good to meet you.
Welcome, welcome.

Nice to meet you. Louis.

Louis. Louis. Yes. Louis.

Louis. Louis. Yes.

Or Louis. I don't mind too much. Welcome
to Judea. How are you doing? You've

come armed.

But we're so friendly. I know how it
looks. I know it's not true.

So this is our synagogue.

And I remember when I first came here, I
wanted to build my house here.

And then I learned that according to
Jewish law, you build the synagogue in

highest place, which makes sense.

Well, my home is going to be lording
over the synagogue. That wouldn't be

These are the Torah scrolls.

Is it weird to have your guns on in
here?

No. My gun is here to protect the nation
of Israel

from those that seek to harm us. And
during a service?

Would you typically wear them?

Yes. Is it that dangerous?

It is until it's not.

Thank God never had any issues of
infiltrations here.

And I think it's because they know that
we're ready for it.

How old were you when you came to
Israel?

I think I was 16. When you moved here?

I came here after high school to study
Torah. It was supposed to be a few

months. It's called the gap year
program.

When you breathe the air, when you taste
that, when you feel mission and passion

and life, you can't go back.

This is where I choose to come and pray
with the creator of heaven and earth.

I think this is the most beautiful place
in the world, right here.

Where's the nearest Palestinian town?

I'm so uncomfortable using the word
Palestinian because I don't think that

exists. You don't think they really
exist?

I don't think that they exist as a real
nation with a real claim to this land.

What are they then?

They are, they're Arabs.

With a connection to this land?

Yes, they have a connection to it. It's
nowhere near the depth and, I mean, we

were in this land planting vineyards
before Mohammed was in the third grade.

Is that a settlement there? That is a
Jewish settlement called Pnei Kedem.

Kedem. Which means facing the east, face
to the east.

Would that be considered legal under
Israeli law?

I don't know.

You don't really care. I don't. I don't
care at all.

At all. I don't care at all.

Why don't you care?

This land here in the heart of Judea,
there's some things that transcend the

whims of legislation.

This is one of those things.

For millions of Palestinians up and down
the West Bank, the presence of settlers

makes life precarious.

They live under Israeli military law,
restricted from most Israeli roads,

subject to frequent run -ins with the
authorities and detention without trial.

in a legal system that is opaque and
arbitrary.

Israel says the measures are necessary
for security.

I was in the south Hebron hill during
the olive harvest, a time when tensions

run high, with Palestinians prevented
from getting to trees they say they've

harvested for years.

How are you doing?

I was curious to see the interactions
for myself.

I'd heard from an Israeli activist
group.

They were trying to help a farmer named
Ishak Jabarin.

Louis, Salam. What's happening here
today?

The army arrived.

A nearby settlement had allegedly called
them to report the olive picking.

. . . . .

One of those on the scene was a long
-time Israeli activist, mathematician

Sneed. Kobi, do you know what they're
doing right now? The army has said,

got to leave in five minutes.

And now the landowner has to make a
choice if to try to insist

on staying here and taking a risk.

They're liable to do anything. They can
arrest the Palestinians, they can arrest

us, who knows what they might do.

Have you been arrested before?

Do you think he would have been
arrested?

40 % of all Palestinian men have been
arrested, so probably.

British television.

Passport.

Can I ask why you're taking my passport?

I need to check.

Check what?

Check what?

Nothing. They don't need to check
nothing. They just want to scare us.

If he kept picking, he would have been
arrested?

No, it's not to arrest.

It's just to evacuate the area.

Meaning what, though, if he says, I'm
not leaving?

I'm grateful we didn't get to die apart.

Because what would happen?

I actually don't... As a soldier, you
would have to, what, detain him?

I'd rather not speaking it.

Alongside their interactions with the
army, Palestinians throughout the West

Bank also suffer attacks by settlers.

These videos come from the South Hebron
Hills, where I'd seen the olive picking.

In the town of Tawani, a settler was
caught on camera shooting and severely

injuring a Palestinian man.

The shooter had his gun license revoked.

But he was never arrested.

I'd heard of other similar incidents.

In the same town of Tawani, I'd made
contact with a 20 -year -old Palestinian

student and local activist named Mohamed
Hourani.

He'd offered to take me to the top of
the hill to meet his neighbor who lives

a spot closest to a settlement.

Louis,

it's nice to meet you.

Thank you for having us.

Most of Roubaix's house still bears the
scars of what he says were settler

attacks.

You can see, like, from the window, the
bullets.

So there's bullets that have come
through here?

Yeah. From this window and that window.

This is the pattern.

This and this one.

Where that bright light is?

Yes. So what is that?

Is that an outpost or what is that? Is
there anyone in there?

Hang on, something's happening.

What is it?

Are they coming in?

They are screaming to us.

I don't know. It's

happening

every day.

What do we do? Just stay in here?

Yeah, we are inside.

Matan, what do you think?

It's not safe at the moment.

There's obviously multiple guns pointing
at her.

Yeah, let's wait.

What can we do? Can we call the police?

Which police?

I mean,

they are one regime.

It doesn't worry you?

No, because, I mean, we're raised in
this situation, so it became a normal

reality for us.

When you are a kid, you just see this
army invading your home in the day, on

night. You grow up on this unjust
reality that it became normal for you as

human, but it's not normal for anybody,
and no one should accept it.

After more than an hour, the soldiers
appeared to lose interest, and the crew

and I slipped away.

The violence committed by some settlers
is often justified by them as a response

to violence they experience from
Palestinians, which is much less

Nevertheless, it's hard to disentangle
it from an ideology of the superiority

one group and their rights over another,
promoted by leaders like Daniela Weiss.

Hiya, how are you?

I'm coming.

Hoping for more insight into her and her
work, I was back.

I have a meeting, but do have a seat.

Thank you.

So we'll just

wait.

OK,

from now on, follow me if you want to
know.

Are we leaving?

So we're going to meet you there? All
right.

I was joining Daniela and some friends
of hers in a convoy heading towards

Mission unclear.

Two hours later, we were one kilometre
from the Gaza border in the Israeli town

of Sderot.

arriving at a yeshiva, a religious
school, where Daniela took part in an

assembly alongside two prominent rabbis.

What's happening next, Daniela?

Shall we follow you?

We'll follow her.

The stop was a memorial for the victims
of October 7th.

Starot had seen heavy fighting during
the Hamas attack and suffered many

As the sun passes by, Daniela held a
degree of celebrity status.

Then the settler convoy arrived at what
seemed to be its destination.

a viewpoint overlooking the war zone.

Daniela had told me she'd signed up 800
families who were ready to move into

Gaza. One of her team explained how it
would work.

The idea seemed to be to get spiritual
buy -in from the two rabbis.

One of them was next to speak, Rabbi Dov
Lior.

There is no peace and there will be no
peace. Not that I don't want peace.

I also want peace.

A country that has only one brother, the
Jewish people, and all of Gaza and all

of Lebanon, all of this needs to be
cleaned, to clean the country from the

people.

Whoever will be saved, will be saved.
Whoever will not be saved, I thank him

clean language, that he will be saved
there. Even if he will be saved, it will

cost him money. It will cost him less
money than to buy the raw materials.

No,

no. That's the end.

That's the end.

That's the end.

As the day ended, we were following
Daniela's car, driving on what seemed to

army -controlled land.

approaching ever closer to the Gaza
border.

It had previously been reported that
Daniela had been illegally

escorted into Gaza by soldiers who
supported her to recce locations for

settlement.

Suddenly her vehicle broke away.

On this occasion, she was intercepted.

So basically, she had a military escort
and then she just peeled away and made a

sprint for the border.

Of Gaza?

Yeah.

She just tried to run away from the
army, huh? Yeah.

Did you try and make a dash for the Gaza
border? What was happening down there?

I enjoyed it so much.

Our two jeeps drew too much attention.

But what's the idea? Why do you want to
go down to the Gaza?

You want to enter Gaza? No.

What I wanted to do, I wanted to show
the rabbis that Gaza

is not...

Something beyond reach.

Would you say October 7th made people
more receptive to your message and to

point of view?

No doubt.

The October 7th naturally made people
more receptive to

the idea of the great Israel.

But the next step, Jewish settlements in
Gaza, is very difficult.

that demands a lot of work. You have to
influence the leftists, the government,

the nations of the world using the magic
system, Zionism.

You redeem the land, you establish
communities, you bring

Jewish families, you live Jewish life,
and this

will bring light.

Instead of darkness.

And this is how the state of Israel was
established.

And this is what we want to do in Gaza.

This process of making the whole of the
West Bank and Gaza Jewish, do

you feel like it's moving more quickly?

As far as Judea and Samaria is
concerned, we want to move from one

two million.

So this is the next step.

This is my vision.

I'm so complicated.

Daniela's vision has been made possible
by the Israeli occupation.

But it in turn has led to the creation
of a vast military infrastructure which

impacts every aspect of Palestinian
life.

Nowhere is it more evident than in
Hebron.

Hebron is an ancient biblical city, home
to some 200 ,000 Paladinians, a place

holy to three major religions.

Hi, how are you?

We're from the British TV crew.

In 1968, the year after it was occupied
by Israel, a community of Jewish

settlers moved in illegally.

They now number around 700, existing in
a cordon of military protection.

I visited in 2010 when I'd spent time
with a settler leader.

Now, 14 years on, I was curious about
life within the Palestinian community.

I'm Louis.

Hi, Louis. Nice to meet you. Welcome.

Thank you for having us.

Issa Amro, a Palestinian activist, was
born here in the settler -occupied area.

You've got fences all around?

All around.

Fences from here? Yeah.

Who lives on the other side? Israeli
settlers.

We've got army there. What are they
doing?

Have they come for a reason?

No, they come for intimidation.

How are you?

They're not speaking, but I think what
they would say is, well, we're here to

provide security for the settlers who
live here and want to live in

peace and experience animosity from the
Palestinians.

So they want to live in peace in the
expense of my basic human rights.

I didn't choose to live in Hebron. I was
born in Hebron. It's my land. It's my

homeland. The settlers chose to come
here.

And if it's not safe for them, why do
they continue building more and more

settlements in my own city?

By international law, the settlements
are illegal.

They don't see us as equal human beings
who deserve the same rights they do.

Lead the way.

Yeah.

For nearly 20 years, Issa has been an
advocate for non -violent resistance

against the occupation.

He is one of around 30 ,000 Palestinians
living inside the high -security area

of Hebron, the so -called sterile zone.

For them, just doing their shopping,
going to work or going to school means

passing through military checkpoints.

Let's see how it works.

Hi. Hi.

How are you guys doing? Good, how are
you?

Fine. Everything OK?

I need your passport, please.

All of you, OK?

Sure. What for? Why?

Check.

Hi, Issa. How are you doing, mate? How
are you doing?

Hi. Why are you covering your faces?

Because of the cold.

No, no, it's not cold. Come on, guys.

Don't hide. Only gangs hide their faces.

You are a military. You should have your
faces, you know, obvious to everybody.

Do you know Issa?

Yeah, he lives here.

He says it's making life very difficult
to have this military presence here.

What are you all doing here? What am I
doing here? I'm making a documentary.

Documentary? For British television.

Of what?

About settlers.

In the West Bank.

Settlers in the West Bank? Yes.

Okay, and what do you tell to the
television about the settlement?

It's not about what I'm telling them.
It's about what I'm hearing from the

people who I speak to. Where do you
live?

I don't want to tell you. Okay.

I told you where I was staying.

What does that mean?

Enjoy from the trip in Hebron here.

Thank you. Wish you all the best, guys.

How is life here?

You're very well armed.

Is there a situation here that needs
careful control?

Of course.

What is it? Tell me about it.

What was he saying about

Arabic?

No, he wanted to see if you are an Arab.
He asked you, do you speak Arabic?

Hello, how are you doing? What's up?
Hey, how are you doing?

I'm doing excellent. American?

What do I look, Chinese?

Yeah, from Brooklyn?

You bet.

Let me just pull over to the side. Okay.

Do you know him? No, he doesn't live
here.

You okay?

Do you need help?

You okay?

No. Are you stuck? Are you in a rut?

Why are you filming me?

It's not good. Don't worry. We can't
even see your face. Look, you're

No one can even see who you are.

Don't worry.

I don't know what to do with you. I have
work to do. Get on with your work.

You're fine.

You stay here in the checkpost and
filming everything. You can't do this.

Here. Okay?

Come with me. Wait, no, you can't do
that. Come with me. No, no, no, no, no,

no, no. Don't touch me. You just touch
me. Don't touch me. No violence. Listen

to me. Yeah? I'm listening.

Come, come. No.

I'm... From the military, okay?

IDF, Israel Defense Forces.

I'm above the police here in the West
Bank.

I'm the highest responsibility of law.

We'll tell you like this, okay?

And this man, IDF, I need to tell you,
not staying here. Okay, we'll move

along. That's fine.

Okay, leave.

Leave this place. Leave this area, okay?

Right now.

Let's go. Okay. Let's go.

So who lives here?

Palestinian families.

And where are they?

They are hiding behind the indoors.

What would stop these shops from being
open?

It's closed by military orders and
marked as

closed shops.

It's marked.

From this shop would be five families at
least live and earn their living.

Look, this is something new.

This not to hire Arab workers.

In Israel, two faces, a face of an Arab
and a face of a terrorist.

And this is how they stereotype us.

Middle finger.

He gave you the middle finger? Yes, to
you too.

You think it was to me? To you. I think
it was to you. To you. To both of us.

Because you deserve the middle finger if
you report about Palestinians.

For what reason?

But

I know that

I'm allowed to be here until here.

Jay, you are not allowed to go there.

Why can't he be with us?

Because there are limits for
Palestinians.

So he can't... If he lives here, he
can't reach.

Here, no.

Give me your ID, please.

How come Palestinians can't come down
here?

It's not work like that.

Which camera? We're not talking to you.

It seems ironic that that's the visitor
centre.

Right for tourists and whatnot and he
can't actually visit in his own in his

busy You knew that

was gonna happen No, it's new that they
asked me to come back to here He told

me that I'm allowed only to hear so they
expanded the closed area for me. What's

it all about?

Taking more and more land. It's about
fragmented Life, restricted life for

Palestinians, no quality life. You live
with the basics, even with less than

basics of family needs to make you live.

And they are doing well. The majority of
the houses are empty.

The families are leaving.

You could flip it and say, well, if they
really wanted to occupy the whole of

Hebron, or at least this area, they
could literally deport.

Palestinians. They do it slowly, but now
they are speeding up. They want

approval from their allies and their
partners in the world.

Is it worth going through to see the
other side? Yes, I can see what it looks

like.

This gives you a little flavor of what
it was like in there before.

Yes. The market was much more busy
inside.

It was our Oxford Street inside. So
busy. My father used to hold my arm not

lose me. Not anymore.

It's closed completely.

Restricted. In order to get back in, we
can't go through there now because

they've closed it. It's closed. So how
do we get back in?

You try from another checkpoint.

Through here?

Yeah.

So now we're on the other side of the
area where you couldn't walk before,

right? Where they stopped you from
walking in front of the visitor center.

But you need to get home.

Yes. So what will you do?

I will go around again.

I will go outside this checkpoint, go
around to enter from another checkpoint,

and wait till the checkpoint opens to
get into my house with my son.

You definitely can't come this way?

I can't come this way.

Okay. They won't let you through? No,
they will not.

I'm not allowed. I was happy to meet
you. Thank you so much. Take care. Bye

-bye.

On the drive back from Hebron, I
reflected on the separate lives lived by

Israelis and Palestinians and the
unequal system of rights and justice.

We ran into a traffic jam caused by a
bomb scare.

The road, the main artery in the West
Bank, is one of the few shared by

and Palestinians.

For once, all were subject to delay.

It was a sobering experience visiting
Hebron again.

Isa had told me he believed life was
being made intolerable for Palestinians

deliberately, to make them leave, and
that the process was speeding up since

October 7th.

And it was true that some settlers I'd
met supported the deportation of

Palestinians who won't submit to Jewish
authority.

One of them was Ari, a Texan born and
raised in Houston.

now resident deep inside the occupied
West Bank.

Good to see you. Good to see you. How
are you?

A little under the weather. I'm sorry to
hear that.

Thank you for having us back.

Hoping to understand a little better,
I'd return to see him again.

OK, we're ready for the coffee. I really
hope I do well.

I never know if you wear those guns just
for effect.

I don't know what effect I'm looking
for. Do I want to look more militant?

no, I'm not wearing it just for effect.

Do you want to sit down?

We've talked a lot about how you see the
importance of Jewish presence in

what's termed the biblical land of
Israel.

Are you saying that you see Israel as
playing a role for modeling a new kind

nationalism?

Is that right?

I think that all of what's happening in
the world right now is leading us as a

nation to open our eyes to who we are.
We are the tip of the spear fighting the

battles of America and defending the
entire Western world, and not just the

Western world, anyone who wants any
semblance of liberty and freedom in

lives. Nevertheless, there are millions
of people up and down the area, Arabs,

Muslims, who...

aren't living free, right? They're
enclosed without the same rights,

national self -determination, and in
many respects, feeling besieged. And I

wonder, do you see that?

I don't have tremendous compassion for a
society that has an

unquenchable, genocidal, theological...

bloodlust. It's like a death cult.

It seems to me there's a danger with
that characterization of Palestinians.

You define them as eliminationist and
hateful and genocidal.

I use the word death cult. That then
permits you to almost create a

mirror image of that. That you say,
well, if they want to do that to us,

need to do that to them.

I think that when you're living amongst
people who have perpetually proven, not

only by word but by deed, that they want
your blood spilled in the streets, that

they want to murder your children, that
they want to slay all of you, kill all

of you in the most horrific, genocidal
way, that all of the polls showed after

October 7th that these people who you
continuously call the Palestinian

that I reject the very premise, that
they are actually...

a real nation for a lot of reasons, I
mean... But the millions of people who

have nothing to do with October 7th,
right? Who actually just would like to

free, full lives.

If that's really what they wanted, they
would have had it a long time ago. They

want to wipe Israel off the map. They
want every last Jew dead. So what's the

answer?

The answer is for us to declare
sovereignty over all of Judea and

and all of the land of Israel and Gaza
and to settle Gaza and all of Judea and

Samaria with Jews in the land of Israel.

Did the question annoy you?

Annoying me? I just, I hear it so often.

and it feels like it's being addressed
again and again and again. Even if the

entire world is pointing, accusing
fingers and gnashing their teeth in rage

anger, we know the righteousness and the
truth of our cause, even if we stand

alone. That's what it means to be a
Hebrew. That's what it means to be a

we know the truth of our cause, that's
all we need.

And that word had led him to believe
that it was the divine right of the

people to settle and rule this land.

See you later.

God bless and protect you.

Amen.

The Bible was, as he saw it, a land deed
to the West Bank.

With an afternoon free, I stopped for
coffee in the Palestinian city of

surrounded by the

ancient architecture of the old city and
the undeniable fact of the hundreds of

thousands of people living there and
their aspirations for statehood.

At the edge of the city, we were held up
at one of the many checkpoints that

control the people entering and leaving.

Can you put the gun down?

Where are you from?

From London.

You've been in the market?

Yes.

You also?

Yes. She works with you? She's American,
yes. Can you show me ID?

Me?

Everyone? Yes, sure.

It's very slow going. We've been in that
queue for an hour or more.

How much time are we going to stay in
Israel?

Hang on, but I don't think we're in
Israel.

Huh? Are we in Israel?

You're in Israel now. Are we? Yeah.

In the West Bank?

No?

In the north of the West Bank, I was
heading back to the settlement of

where I'd been hosted by Malkiel, the
horse wrangler.

Since my visit, I'd learned a little
more about the settlement's relations

its neighbouring Palestinian town of
Beitar, how Beitar had been subject to

settler attacks, and how it, in turn,
had organised regular protests of the

settlement.

Demonstrators had been killed, and
others wounded during the clashes.

One of the deaths of a Turkish -American
volunteer, Ayşenur Ezgi Egi, made

headlines.

Now the settlement was holding a
festival to celebrate its recent

the Israeli state.

Entertainments had been laid on, and
families from settlements from around

West Bank had converged for a day of
music and activities.

One of those speaking was Daniela.

How are you?

Yeah, it's a bit quieter.

As the festivities wound down, I had a
moment to speak to Daniela on a hilltop

overlooking the Palestinian town of Beit
Ha.

So you've been talking about settling,
you've talked about displacing, wanting

the Palestinians to go, you said, to
Africa, to Canada, to England, you don't

care where.

What would be wrong with either a two
-state solution or a one -state solution

where everyone has the same rights?

We want to have a Jewish state based on
Jewish rules, on Jewish

values. It's not relationship of
neighbors. Why not?

Because we are two different nations.

Different. I just wonder whether you
feel or you're aware that, you know,

they're really suffering and there's
been settlers rampaging through the area

the West Bank. So there's all this...
Agitation.

Death.

Tragedy, right? Tragedy. When a people
is invaded, right, and then put under a

military occupation, deprived of their
rights, that anger seems to be...

An understandable response, an
appropriate response.

There is no such thing as deadly
violence.

Did I speak, I don't know if I spoke, I
don't mind saying it again.

And I don't mind, I will be glad to
explain it. You don't believe it's real?

There are videos, you can see them.

You see what?

Okay, let's say, we have a camera right
here. Yes.

And I do this.

Yeah.

Do something.

You don't mind what I did to you?

Well, I won't do that to you.

And then the camera takes just part.

You don't have the full picture.

Then I say you're violent.

You're violent against a woman.

This is exactly what is going on all the
time with what you call...

Settler violence.

Settler violence.

Settlers do not...

Wake up in the morning or do not go wait
for sundown to attack. No,

no, no, no. Why should we wake up in the
morning and think about violence? Why?

Our life is good.

Because you want the Palestinians to
leave.

No, no, no, no.

You said so. I said that what is on my
mind all the time is how

to bring...

More people to settle the land.

This is a new development by Jews.

This is Har Bracha.

This is Itza.

Here we can develop. Here we cannot
develop.

I never think in terms of... I know this
is beta.

I don't think about beta.

Why not?

Because I think about I'm a Jew. I'm a
settler.

I'm a...

A human being. Yes, you are. So I do not
think about this. You're thinking about

tribalism, thinking of your own people
to the exclusion. It would be

understandable to think of your own
people or your own children first, but

think about other people, other
children, not at all, that seems

I can... Doesn't it?

No, not at all. This is normal.

To my children, I give everything
because I...

The normal thing for me is to pray for
my own people.

That's it. So now I continue.

I hope you push me back.

And so I said goodbye to Daniela and her
extreme ideology delivered with a

smile.

14 years on from my first visit, with
the horror of October 7th in the interim

and the ongoing devastation of Gaza,

the settled dream shows no sign of
abating, along with the dislocation,

displacement and death that follows
inevitably in its train, advanced by

ideologues, backed up by those in power
and accountable only to God.