On Sunday morning 6 July, hundreds of Palestinian flags were seen hanging along highways in the West Bank, sparking numerous complaints of Jewish residents.
The flags were actually hung by the Jewish right-wing movement, Regavim.
According to the Times of Israel, the organisation said in a statement that the action was to alert Israelis that a “terror state was around the corner.”
The action evoked some excitement from Palestinians, who were able to see their flag flying on West Bank roads when they are often repressed from doing so.
Israeli journalist and political analyst, Gad Shimron, said that Regavim is well connected with the Israeli government and the action was just a plea for some attention and maybe to “increase the movement’s relationships and establish new ones”.
Transportation Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who co-founded Regavim in 2006, initially condemned the flags on the West Bank roads, which are used by both Israeli and Palestinian drivers.
However, after the organisation identified themselves, Smotrich called the campaign “important and even critical.”
Smotrich, who belongs to the Union of Right-Wing Parties said that: “These flags are not dangerous, but the thousands of houses, roads, and trees that the Arabs are building, and paving, and planting under our noses are! The responsibility falls on the shoulders of one man — Netanyahu.”
“In the last coalition negotiations, Netanyahu refused our demand to prevent this takeover. This time we won’t concede,” Smotrich added.
There has been a growing concern that due to the volatile political situation in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will have to endorse even more his nationalistic strategy and maintain the status quo with the Palestinian situation to win the upcoming elections in September.
With constant support from the U.S current administration regarding settlement activities and the green light from the Israeli government, violence by Jewish settlers and right-wing activists against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank tripled in 2018, as shown in a report published by the Middle East Eye at the beginning of this year.
Lead image: Regavim