Above: Dani Dayan

Former Head Of West Bank Settlement Council Says He Was Forced Out Because He Opposed Violence

Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com



Speaking on Israel’s Channel 20 TV, the former chairman of the Yesha Council (the council of the West Bank Jewish settlements) Dani Dayan told Israelis he was forced out of his job because he opposed settler violence against the IDF and related settler price tag hate crime attacks against Arabs.



According to Dayan, some council leaders adopted an ends justify the means attitude when the violence was employed to stop Israel from evacuating or dismantling settler outposts. Dayan says he strongly opposed that view and spoke out against repeatedly, Yeshiva World reported, costing him his job.



Dayan refused to give the names of rabbis and other settler leaders who endorsed the violence.



Dayan said there was not enough effort made to stop violence and those who perpetrate it were instead often encouraged by settler leaders and defended by right-wing and Zionist Orthodox politicians if they were arrested.



“I want [our opposition to this wanton violence] to come from our kishkes, like when people are boiling up inside and they must let it out,” Dayan reportedly said, noting that settler youth must be clearly and strongly told that violence is unacceptable so they come to internalize that message and stop resorting to violence.



For that opinion, Dayan – widely considered to be the best leader the West Bank settlement movement has ever had – was allegedly fired in 2013, but the firing was presented to the public as a resignation by Dayan made so he could endorse Benjamin Netanyahu for prime minister in the national election.