Israeli President Isaac Herzog sent a warning letter last month to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials about a “highly explosive and dangerous reality” in the West Bank and the “moral disgrace” of settler violence, according to the Times of Israel, which says it obtained the letter.

The letter was also sent to Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, and says that IDF commanders, police officers and Shin Bet personnel report “limited tools and a shortage of manpower”. Herzog warned that a flare-up on the ground is liable to carry “severe and far-reaching consequences” for Israel's security, its functioning as a sovereign state, its international standing, Diaspora Jewry and the Israeli economy. He called for the perpetrators to be treated as members of a criminal organization and for a plan with a mass deployment of security forces, widespread arrests, administrative detentions and the dismantling of the groups. Settler violence has surged in recent months, with near-daily attacks and harassment and few perpetrators charged or convicted.