The Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter on Friday condemned the recent violence in the West Bank village of Kusra, criticizing settlers who established an outpost near the village.
In a post on X/Twitter, Leiter wrote, “When a band of rioters wreaks havoc through completely unjustified violence, diverts forces and resources from the IDF and Israel’s law enforcement authorities, and at the same time claims that it is acting for the sake of the land, this is a distortion of the idea of settling the land, and even a desecration of it.”
This week’s Torah portion is a great reminder that, as we are commanded to settle and inhabit the land, we must build a society that is worthy of the land we live in.
Shabbat Shalom 🕯️🕯️ pic.twitter.com/eULqoluS4X
— Ambassador Yechiel (Michael) Leiter (@yechielleiter) August 14, 2026
Leiter connected his criticism of the violence to the Jewish commandment of settling the Land of Israel, arguing that the principle also carries a responsibility to uphold justice.
“What we saw this week in [Kusra], this is not what the commandment to settle the land means. Perhaps you have heard many people speak about settling the Land of Israel, about the commandment to settle the land.”
“But this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Shoftim, teaches us that this commandment has another, deeper dimension, the Torah commands: ‘You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates that the Lord your God is giving you, for your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.’”
Inheriting the land means pursuing justice, Leiter says
Leiter also referred to criticism of the events in Kusra voiced by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
“You cannot settle the land through destabilizing and disruptive behavior, as my esteemed colleague Mike Huckabee brilliantly put it when he spoke of ‘unsettling behavior.’”
Leiter added, “There is a profound connection between the pursuit of justice and inheriting the land. The Torah teaches us that holding the land is not an end in itself. Our right to build a national home in it comes with the responsibility to create a society worthy of that home. The Land of Israel is not only a place where we were commanded to dwell, it is a place where we were commanded to live according to justice.”
His remarks came after it was reported Friday morning that Defense Minister Israel Katz had held a meeting on the West Bank the previous day with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the heads of the Operations Directorate and Military Intelligence, and other senior commanders.
At the end of the meeting, Katz instructed the IDF to prepare a plan to transfer all civilian law enforcement authority in the West Bank to the Israel Police.
Left-wing MK blocked from Kusra
Separately, Hadash-Ta’al MK Ofer Cassif was detained by security forces at the entrance to Kusra on Friday morning.
According to a statement from the defense minister, “The police will prepare and establish an appropriate force to deal with and handle civilian matters, and it will be granted all the necessary authorities and budgets.”
A statement issued on Katz’s behalf also said, “It is not the IDF’s role, nor does it have the ability, to deal with the enforcement of civilian matters in Judea and Samaria, in light of the expected welcome increase in the number of settlers in Judea and Samaria following the decisions to establish 104 new communities and formalize the agricultural farms, on the one hand, and the growing security threats and challenges that the IDF is dealing with and is expected to deal with on the central front, on the other.”
According to Katz, the IDF’s role is “to fight Palestinian terrorism, focus on defending the borders and communities against threats, deal with the borders and the territory itself and with security threats to the settlements and the State of Israel, and not chase teenagers on the hilltops.”
