Headquarters of Israel’s oldest human rights organization sustain heavy damage. Spokesperson says if fire turns out to be arson, ‘it must be seen in the context of the wave of government incitement and smear campaigns against Israel’s human rights groups, and B’Tselem in particular.’

The West Bank city of Hebron is where Palestinians and Israeli settlers live within yards of each other – separated by Israeli barricades and soldiers. It’s long been a place filled with friction, and over the past three months, nearly one out of three Palestinian attacks have taken place here, according to the Israeli military. It’s also the place where Palestinian activist Issa Amro is trying to preach nonviolence to Palestinians.

The hilltop youth have always had power, which they wielded through violent acts, often under the cover of night. But for most Israelis, these were distant events perpetrated by extremists in the West Bank, a kind of Wild West they rarely think about or visit. Now, ironically, the efforts of Israel’s security services to suppress the hilltop youth have brought this cohort into the daylight — and given them a voice.

“From audacious fraud and forgery to military seizures for ‘security needs’ and the ‘public good’ to dusting off antiquated Ottoman laws, the Israeli settlement enterprise has no shortage of tools for taking over Palestinian land in the West Bank,” writes Dror Etkes.

Israeli forces shot and wounded an 18-year-old Palestinian youth on Monday morning after he allegedly attempted to stab an Israeli soldier at a checkpoint southwest of Jenin.

“There is no other way to describe Israel’s policy of dealing with alleged attackers except as extrajudicial summary executions,” writes Gideon Levy.

A Catholic monastery close to Beit Shemesh has been vandalized for the second time in less than three years. Monks of the Salesian Order at the Beit Jamal monastery discovered dozens of cruciform tombstones knocked over the at the monastery last month and reported the incident this Saturday.

Shapiro makes it clear to the justice minister that, in contrast to her assertions, the bill has no similarity whatsoever to any legislation in the United States.

“Short of allowing Palestinians to establish an independent state, there is nothing Netanyahu won’t do to ensure his political survival,” writes Edo Konrad.

Agricultural Minister Uri Ariel called on the Israeli government to annex Area C of the West Bank during a tour of Judea and Samaria led by the Knesset Land for Israel Caucus. As he spoke the Bayit Yehudi member stood on the hilltop of a controversial unbuilt area of the Ma’aleh Adumim settlement known as E1.