Last week, Channel 2 gave us a rare glimpse into the minds of some of the hilltop youth leaders. I just couldn’t miss the opportunity to bring it to you.
This translation goes out to my homies in AIPAC, and to the national religious rabbis of the world. Without you, these racists would not be possible.
They live in the territories on the hills, going from one illegal outpost to another
They’re called “The Hilltop Youth”
After the violent breaking and entering into the IDF Ephraim Base
and the crossing over of the Jordanian border at Kasser el Yahud and the price tags
We went out to meet those who usually do not like the media,
and they spoke. Words that are not simple to hear.
Are they just the fringe? Or could it be that the next generation of settlers will follow them?
Let’s take a look
It’s gorgeous here.
The clean air. The mountain views, the confusing silence,
all these are impressions one gets when crossing the Green Line.
First, we visit Migron.
Shalom. -Shalom
Can I enter?
Who did you come for? -To take a look at the community.
To take a look at the community? -Yes. -Why?
Why not? When you come to Tel Aviv do I ask you why you are coming?
No. But to here people come with a reason.
According to a ruling of the High Court, this community will be evacuated soon.
Migron is a family settlement, it’s an essential part of the Yesha Council.
But outside of the fences, outside the institutions,
there is what is called a “hill”. An outpost.
If you go out the gate. -Yes?
Where the swing is, take a left.
They warned us about nails on the path, meant for the IDF jeeps.
Avner, the sound man, walks outside, leading the way making sure the path is clear.
And then – we reach the outpost.
This outpost has been evacuated more than 11 times.
Until yesterday it was still a closed army zone.
(Ramat Migron)
Between the debris, a path leads to a makeshift shelter.
On the bed, a phone and wallet.
And behind it, it takes us time to see, someone is hiding there.
Good morning. Ahalan.
Oy, you don’t understand… -What happened?
Are you asleep? -No.
I’m just very scared…
She was hiding because she thought we were soldiers coming to arrest her.
Usually they pass by from afar, see that nobody is here and go on,
they mark a “v” on their assignment.
Between the trees, three young girls approach us.
A guitar, a Hanukkiya and lots of ideology.
The writing on the back of the shirt leaves no room for doubt (“price tag”):
Hilltop girls.
Sari, Ester and Eliraz, all aged 19-20, they all live here,
they’ve all been arrested before.
Eliraz runs the “Land and Homeland” forum for Channel 7
where the youngsters are updated on future events.
She has a police record on vandalizing Palestinian property and vehicles.
Jails will not deter us, and we aren’t the ones to say that first.
Who said it? -Lechi, Etzel people, those kind of people.
Between the debris, we sit for a chat.
It’s a bit sad that we are afraid of our own soldiers.
And it’s funny… it’s so ridiculous that they come…
… to these illegal little huts here, when just across is Muhmus.
It takes just a few moments to understand
that behind the smiles and summer camp atmosphere in the middle of winter
there are very rigid opinions.
Who owns these olive trees here? -Olives?
In principal, -This olive tree grove. The olive trees.
It all belongs to the Jews.
Even the olives that are near Muhmus are ours.
Just because the Arabs think they own something here…
they’re called “swindlers”.
Do the Arabs have anything? – They have many countries…
They have 22 countries, no?
Sometimes it seems that the soundtrack of the difficult text doesn’t fit the picture
of faces of young, giggling women.
If I go and chop down a tree, how am I helping the struggle for the Land of Israel?
It’s known that wherever there is an olive tree – there is an Arab.
And wherever there is an Arab – there is a terror attack.
If an olive tree is connected to an Arab, then apparently the olive tree shouldn’t be here. Temporarily.
But they’re here. They need to make a living, they need to eat…
What do you mean “they need to make a living?!” They don’t belong here!
They don’t belong here.
And every day that they remain here, they will pay a price.
(graffiti: “price tag”, “Mohamad is a pig”)
This isn’t just talk. There is also action.
The events called “price tag” happen almost every week.
Clashes with Palestinians, attacks on mosques,
and the last events were the crossing of the fence at Kassr el_yahud on the Jordanian border,
Two banks to the Jordan river…
And the breaking into and rioting at the IDF Binyamin Brigade headquarters.
I intend to fight this phenomenon with all the power I have.
We weren’t the only ones to condemn these actions,
it reached the UN Security Council.
What happened at the Ephraim army base? – What happened at the Ephraim army base…
What does it have to do with us?
I don’t know, you’re part of the group, the Hilltop Youth.
What is this group? -What’s the big deal, they vandalized some cars…
I mean, they do it every day…
General Avi Mizrahi: The hatred of Jews towards our soldiers as I saw it,
I did not witness in my 30 year service.
When you take people from their homes with an administrative warrant,
without any option to face it legally,
why shouldn’t someone hate you?
I have no problem to say that I hate Avi Mizrahi.
Do you want a kingdom? – King of Israel,
King of Israel is not something I said, it’s the Torah.
The temple, high priests, King of Israel…. it won’t be a regime like there is now.
To destroy the al-Aqsa mosque? -Of course! -Of course.
Did you have any doubt?
We wake up in the morning, see the news that a mosque was burnt,
cool, we’re happy, great morning!… -happiness, of course.
But how much did you know…. that it was going to happen?
Nobody knows it’s going to happen, even those people don’t know.
Does every such action, according to your understanding, get an OK from a rabbi?
Not every action… -No.
The thinking, the actual taking part in the action,
burning a mosque, or I don’t know, sabotaging an IDF jeep, or stuff like that,
it basically has rabbinical approval.
It’s not that every one who does it goes and asks his rabbi, otherwise…
we would probably all be in jail.
But there are rabbis who approve these things in a general manner.
Of course, otherwise we wouldn’t do it.
Will you stay here if the Palestinians rule this land?
Yes. We’ll found the Judean kingdom… -Even better!
We’ll be able to do whatever we want.
Even in the days of King David there were two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Judea, and the Kingdom of Israel.
Arabs are like dogs. They smell fear and then they come to bite.
If the prime minister will not show fear, and the PM will know to say what he wants with pride
then the Arabs will put themselves on the sidelines as well.
If he wants to live here and says, this is my state and I am not doing terror attacks.
If he’s willing to accept… -The land of Israel, for the people of Israel,
and he accepts this fact 100%,
then yes, he can live.
But yes, only temporarily, he can’t reproduce in a manner that will threaten the existence of the people of Israel in their land.
MK Michael Ben Ari: When I have to chose between the hilltop youth and the alcohol youth,
there’s no doubt who I would chose.
There is great youth here, who sometimes lose their balances,
and we have to be here in this place.
I try to discuss, to talk,
and to direct and channel these great strengths to the right places.
Before we say goodbye to them, a bit of music –
kosher music.
You know I’m not going to sing. -Why?
Like, it doesn’t matter, we can play here till tomorrow.
You’ll sing only after we leave? Is that why?
Men…
We continue. Again, breathtaking views,
this time near Adei-Ad. Another hill.
Two young men approach us, to what they call “the hut”.
People actually live here? -Yes.
So why is it so messy now?
They haven’t been here a few days I guess.
There have been a lot of arrests in the last few days.
Oded came straight from the courthouse.
He was arrested for crossing the border at Kassr al Yahud.
It’s time we woke up and crossed over to the other river bank.
To Jordan? -What? To the Land of Israel.
Which is now Jordan. -Yes.
That could have started a war with Jordan, an act like that.
OK, I’m all for going to war with Jordan, to conquer them and to live there.
Just remove them from their houses, people, children?
With decisiveness and sensitivity, what’s the problem?
A few meters from there, a caravan that the army destroyed.
There was something bigger here, because a family lived here.
But it did’t help much, I’m saying, because the settlement here continued.
Everywhere they say, where the media reports they evacuated an outpost,
they evacuated here and there, they come, destroy and go,
the presence remains forever.
The State of Israel has to be according to the laws of the people of Israel.
Laws that… when a people is created, they received laws, they got the Torah from Mount Sinai,
and according to this, this is basically the law that accompanies the people of Israel for 2,000 years in the diaspora.
The state here, it wasn’t founded because someone was bored.
The state has a purpose.
The army was not founded for the Chief of Staff to get a salary.
The army was founded to conquer the Land of Israel.
To defend the people.
It’s not the first time you’ve been arrested. -No.
And you’re 18. -Yes.
Will you go serve in the IDF? -I got an exemption.
Because of these arrests?
It doesn’t exactly say, but probably so.
Aren’t those paratroopers boots?
What… yes. -Yes?
At least you have paratroopers boots.
Boots of Hilltoppers -Of? -Hilltop Youth.
A sign that has the wordplay on it “the settlement of the mind”
this is where Meir Bretler lives.
Good morning.
How are you? -Thank you. Blessed be God.
He was released this morning from custody. He is the one who planned the border crossing into Jordan.
A wife, three kids, caravan – house arrest.
Look, we weren’t violent, we attacked nobody,
and we didn’t do, OK, look
in Israel, I agree – sometimes to get topics on the agenda,
you have to slam on the table. We slammed on the table.
Right wing activists crossed the fence…
Do you know how they treated us during the arrest? We didn’t get the most basic human rights.
I’m telling you, 18 hours in handcuffs! No blankets at night!
Can you believe this? Blankets with scabies, I’m not talking about blankets with down feathers.
Bretler is considered one of the leaders of the hilltop youth.
A guy like this calls you, there was a terror attack, there was a stone throwing, there was an action,
and tells you Meir, tomorrow I’m going to burn a mosque. What do you tell him?
There’s no such thing. I don’t get such calls.
Our guys don’t burn mosques, I want to tell you even more:
Not one mosque-burner has been arrested.
God help me, we have the best Internal Security in the world!
So who is doing these thing? -So, I’m telling you, go ahead!
Mr. Internal Security, where are the mosque burners?
You go and arrest people who put up posters of Jabotinsky?
You arrest the people who march?! Where are the mosque burners?
Show them to me! I want them! Who does it harm? Does it harm you?
It harms us, all these price tag actions.
There are people who enter a base – where are the arrested people of the base?
Where are they? They say 80 people were there.
60, 70, 90 – where are they? Go get them!
Maybe you don’t control “your public”, as they say.
We’ll attack soldiers?! Who protects us here, tell me?
The soldiers, I meet them here, they love us, Danny.
Senior officers in the IDF say the rioters in the army headquarters
arrived in an organized bus, 40 religious men wearing yarmulkes
there was severe violence, and real blows. Three were arrested.
IDF: Today, a third of IDF forces in the territories work against Jewish terror.
The day is near where weapons will be used against soldiers, the IDF says.
The IDF adds: The age of innocence is over.
Whoever raises a weapon on me and shoots me, just because he’s a Jew I won’t fight back?
“If one comes to kill you, you may kill them first”, this talks about Jews.
For a gentile it’s not even a question – of course you have to fight back.
The moment a soldier shoots us, we will need to somehow protect ourselves.
So there are a few fools, so that’s it now? So what?
Now hundreds and thousands of youths, they must be tarnished?
To turn them into terrorists? To shoot them like Fuad (Benjamin Ben Eliezer) wants?
How many people belong to the Hilltop Youth?
I think we’re talking of thousand of families, at the end of the day,
people that live in the outposts, and their blood is simply being let.
Their blood is being let!
The distrust between the extreme settlers to the IDF and state is on the rise.
The atmosphere is very tense.
And one event, could, at the end of the day,
to ignite the fire.
Meanwhile, for those who doubted,
Kahane lives.
And this is the Police response:
During the Ephraim base event 5 suspects were arrested.
One of them was charged. The security cameras did not allow to identify others,
but more arrests are expected.
The police is using its best units, resources and means to deal with misdemeanors known as nationalist crimes,
and lately there is a significant rise in the number of arrests and indictments.
And now we go out to another break.