Hilltop Youth: A group intent on taking over the West Bank by violence

It's comprised mostly of young Israeli settlers, intent on taking over the occupied West Bank by whatever means possible, including deadly violence. The group’s early beginnings were in 1998, when Ariel Sharon, Israel’s foreign minister at the time, called on settler youths to take over the hilltops in the occupied West Bank to preempt final status negotiations with the Palestinians, including the issue of settlements. Religious Zionist groups answered his call and began establishing settlement outposts across the occupied territory. These outposts were classified as illegal under Israeli law, even though all settlements, regardless of size or name, are illegal under international law. Over the years, the Hilltop Youth intensified in size, violence, and influence over Israeli policy, as Jewish Israeli voters veered increasingly towards the right. In 2012, the Israeli Cabinet, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, retroactively authorised several illegal settlement outposts, giving the religious Zionist movement a considerable boost. In subsequent years, government support increased by way of favourable legislation, administrative orders, infrastructure support, military protection, and immunity from legal procedures. Since the current Israeli government took office in December 2022, the Hilltop Youth have enjoyed a golden era. The number of settler attacks in the occupied West Bank is breaking records. The United Nations recorded more than 1,330 settler attacks during the first half of 2026, which Palestinian rights groups say is a conservative estimate. These activities include vandalism, arson, and physical and sexual assaults against Palestinians. In a right-wing podcast, Elisha Yered, a prominent Hilltop Youth leader, recently boasted: “We’re very proud of initiating friction; even the army is in friction.” This “friction” results in settlers taking over more Palestinian land, he added. The Hilltop Youth are also more brazen, even in the face of sanctions imposed by several Western governments on the groups and some of their leaders.