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The organisation describes itself as a “group of ordinary Israeli citizens … who care about human rights”.
As the teen settler holds his camera a centimetre from Michal’s face, she doesn’t flinch. The activists film the teenager as he approaches them.
A teenage settler in the West Bank, filming Israeli activists.
“Sometimes he tries to kick me in the shins, and I say: ‘come on, I could be your grandmother’,” Michal says.
Amana denies involvement.
War in Gaza ‘green light’ for settlers
“October 7 was like a green light [for settlement expansion],” Yarden said.
An Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Credit: SBS Dateline
Settlements and Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territories are illegal under international law, according to a ruling from the International Court of Justice, which Israel disputes.
Israel considers the West Bank disputed territory, not occupied territory.
Israel votes to annex the West Bank
In July, Israel’s parliament — the Knesset — voted in favour of annexing the West Bank to claim it as part of Israel.
Netanyahu warned that if Hamas “supposedly accept” the plan “and then basically do everything to counter it, then Israel will finish the job by itself”.
Public demands hostage deal
And in Tel Aviv, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have for months been demanding their government strike a deal with Hamas to return the remaining hostages from Gaza.
One of them is Nimrod Cohen. His father Yehuda spoke to Dateline.
Yehuda Cohen, father of Israeli hostage Nimrod Cohen, at a protest in Tel Aviv in 2024. He continues to protest in favour of a ceasefire and hostage deal. Source: LightRocket / Getty / SOPA Images/ LightRocket / Matan Golan
“We demand a ceasefire ending the war and getting a hostage deal,” he said.
“After, IDF [Israel Defense Forces] full withdrawal from Gaza and prisoners exchange.”
What polling shows about Israeli perspectives on the war
“If we wanted to commit genocide, we would have done it in one afternoon. We have the capacity,” he told local media on 10 August.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected findings that Israel is commtting genocide in Gaza. Source: AAP / Lev Radin / Sipa USA
Two years after the events of October 7, the Israeli public remains traumatised.
“The other aspect is quite simple, from a psychological point of view. If you feel like a victim, it’s very difficult to associate yourself with being the perpetrator of evil on others. So, you’d rather not see it.”
‘Dying in vain’
“All these people are dying in vain. Palestinians, hostages, soldiers … all fighting for things that they cannot achieve,” he told Dateline.
At the weekly ‘Bring Them Home’ protests in Tel Aviv, protesters call for hostages held in Gaza to be returned. Credit: Alexi Rosenfeld / Getty Images
As some Western democracies advocate for a two-state solution, an outcome Netanyahu has flatly rejected, the question of ‘what next’ is elusive.
