CRI听力:"Hilltop Youth" Concerns Israeli Society

At the unauthorized Israeli outpost of Esh Kodesh in the West Bank, Jewish settlers enjoy the life on the hills away from cities. The arson in the nearby Palestinian village of Duma seems far away from them.

Earlier this month, two Jewish extremists were charged over the arson attack last July which killed a Palestinian toddler and his parents. And this has once again emphasized the extreme image of Jewish settlers.

However, Esh Kodesh spokesman Aharon Katsof says most settlers have nothing to do with the so-called "hilltop youth."

"Most of the people here don't want to even talk to the media. Maybe most people are very scared because of the reputation, people say terrible things, people try to paint us black. We have nothing to do whatsoever with Duma or anything else. We obvious condemn violence."

The "hilltop youth" refers to radical young people who have dropped out of the education system and are used to spending time in isolation on hilltops. They are known for what are called "price tag" attacks - such as anti-Arab arsons and desecration of churches, mosques and schools.

Professor Kimmy Kaplan, an Israeli expert on Jewish history and contemporary Jewry, tries to analyze the reasons behind the "hilltop youth."

"The Israeli society, as the way they view it, has lost its values. And that is stressful. That creates despair, and that creates the sense of the need to act in a way that will get us back on track. And all the others, the political objective situation, the stress people are living in, the fact that settlers and Palestinians are in the land of conflict and there is a lot of tension and that tension is on a daily basis… it all has accumulating impact."

As the majority of Israelis condemn the arson attack in Duma, a recent video clip showing far-right wedding-goers celebrating the killings has once again shocked Israeli society. In the video, Israeli youngsters stab a photo of the toddler victim, and wave firebombs, rifles, and knives.

Dov Berkowitz, a Rabbi and educator, says efforts need to be made to bring these young people back to mainstream society.

"It's absolutely terrible, to see young people dancing and glorifying weapons. That means it might be one person who threw the Molotov cocktail but there are more who support it. The community has its responsibility in some way to try to create ongoing, continuing communication with them, to make them feel that they are not out there."

The hilltop youth phenomenon also concerns other Israeli youngsters.

Nineteen-year-old Yahel Sharvit is a pre-military college student.

"These kids are really in a bad situation of life. We should try to help them and give them education. But it's really awful, the things of Duma, the murder of the Arab family is awful. No one of us support it at all. It hurts the name of the Jewish religion. It's not what we believe in."

For CRI, I'm Ryan Price.