Accountability, A Rare Commodity
When Israeli prosecutors announce their intent to charge a settler, Yinon Levi, with the killing of Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen, the international press frames it as a 'rare prosecution,' an anomaly. This framing inadvertently concedes the norm: an overwhelming impunity for violence against Palestinians. Hathaleen's death, captured on video and highlighting a settler sanctioned
internationally, draws attention not because it's unique, but because the evidence is too blatant to ignore. During the 2023-26 period, settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank increased threefold, with a documented 1,229 attacks in 2023 alone, according to the UN. The Israeli legal system, meanwhile, has a documented history of dismissing over 95% of complaints filed by Palestinians
against settlers, a pattern established decades ago. The current proposal to charge Levi with reckless homicide, rather than murder, for events caught on camera, reflects a system designed to mitigate accountability. An Israeli judge had previously released Levi, citing 'lack of evidence,' illustrating how the judiciary often aligns with the settler enterprise, treating Palestinian lives as
expendable and resistance as provocation. The 'rarity' of this prosecution is not a hopeful development but a cynical concession, aimed at deflecting international pressure while maintaining the broader architecture of occupation. The pattern is clear: a justice system that consistently fails to protect Palestinians against settler violence functions as an enforcement arm of the occupation,