Israeli ex-generals pick olives with Palestinians, condemn settler attacks

A group of roughly 30 former senior Israeli military officials showed up in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday to do something unusual: pick olives alongside Palestinian farmers. Six of them are former generals. The gesture was aimed squarely at the militant settlers whose attacks on Palestinian harvesters have spiked this season.

Former Major General Eyal Ben-Reuven, who started organizing the group months ago, didn't mince words. Watching settlers hit women and children, he said, brought back stories his parents told about the persecution of Jewish people. He compared the attacks to pogroms.

The numbers behind the trip are grim. Israeli rights group Yesh Din recorded 180 physical attacks on Palestinian olive harvesters in the 35 days since the season opened. Israeli military forces were present in more than 23% of the settler violence cases the group logged, according to Yesh Din.

Nimr Nazzal, who owns the land near Qusra where the veterans worked, said he couldn't reach his olives without them because of settler attacks. He said many of those attacks have military backing. "The army is protecting the settlers," he said. Palestinians say calls to the military bring either a late response or help for the attackers. The military denies this.

The veterans say they are also worried about what the violence costs Israel abroad. Former Brigadier General Jonatan Yoni called it a strategic and tactical problem for Israel in the West and the United States, and said he was motivated both by the farmers' plight and by opposition to annexing the West Bank. Former Colonel Doron Meinert, who now volunteers much of his time in the West Bank, said occupation is the core problem Israeli society can't ignore, and claimed the army sides with settlers. He added that some soldiers share the militant settlers' view that only Jews have a right to the area.

The Israeli military has said it condemns violence and works to keep security in the West Bank, and has described itself as a people's army reflecting the full spectrum of Israeli views. The territory holds about 500,000 settlers and at least 3 million Palestinians. UN bodies and most countries consider the settlements illegal under international law; Israel rejects that, treating the land as disputed rather than occupied.