{
  "id": 17326601,
  "title": "Israeli lawyer says 'settler violence is state violence, a monster with many arms'",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/31/israeli-lawyer-says-settler-violence-is-state-violence-a-monster-with",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-31T02:45:08.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Middle East Eye",
    "slug": "middle-east-eye",
    "url": "https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israeli-lawyer-says-settler-violence-state-violence-monster-many-arms"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Israeli attorney Michael Sfard contends that settler violence in Israel is a product of the state, not an isolated issue. According to Sfard, there is no distinction between \"bad settlers\" and the Israeli military; instead, he describes it as a single, coordinated operation. This violence, Sfard asserts, is supported, funded, and enabled by the state, from providing weapons to seizing land and granting immunity. The consequences of this violence are stark: Palestinians are being displaced on a daily basis. Sfard's perspective, as outlined in a video by the New Israel Fund and shared by Tim Anderson, Director of the Centre for Counter Hegemonic Studies, paints a picture of a vast, multifaceted apparatus, a monstrous entity with numerous arms, all operated and sustained by the Israeli state. He urges against the notion of isolated \"bad apple\" settlers, instead emphasizing the collective nature of this state-sanctioned violence.",
  "summary": "Israeli lawyer says 'settler violence is state violence, a monster with many arms' A prominent Israeli attorney and rights activist, Michael Sfard, has said that \"settler violence is state violence\" and one must not be \"misled by the notion that there are these bad settlers and an army caught in between Palestinians\". \"There is one machine. It is one machine. Settler violence is state violence.…",
  "key_points": [
    "Israeli settler violence is state-sanctioned, not isolated incidents",
    "Michael Sfard, Israeli attorney, claims single coordinated operation",
    "Palestinians displaced daily due to state-supported violence"
  ],
  "editors_take": "Framing settler aggression as a coordinated state operation shifts the blame from rogue individuals to a systemic apparatus designed to facilitate land seizure and Palestinian displacement.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}