New extremes

Last week 22-year-old settler Eliraz Fein from Yitzhar, a settlement near Nablus, was arrested and charged with inciting violence against Israeli soldiers. She was sentenced to seven days house arrest.

Fein commented on an the local Yitzhar forum that throwing rocks at Jews was acceptable, "even if the rock causes the death of a soldier."

A 17-year-old resident launched into the debate saying there was "no problem in killing a soldier during a night time eviction." He went on to say Jewish law permitted killing anyone breaking and entering and posing a threat to life.The comments were forwarded to the police and the IDF central command by one of the participants.

Ezri Tobi, spokesman for Yitzhar settlement, said the online forum was closed down soon after the incitement was discovered.

"All the other people in this group came out very viciously on the forum and told the manager of the group that if they didn't remove them from the group, they would leave themselves."

Tobi distanced himself from the violence incited online against the Israeli Defense Force saying the soldiers were "part of us" and that members of the settler community were being recruited to the army so it didn't make sense to oppose the IDF.

"Even though sometimes we have conflicts with the soldiers, they are actually part of us. There are specific lines that you don't cross in protest, a protest that says a soldier should be hurt is outside of the borders as far as we are concerned," Tobi told DW.

Yitzhar's awkward reputation

Last week the community held a vote on whether it was acceptable to commit violence against soldiers, the police and the defense force. "It was a very tense vote, 97 percent of the votes agreed that it is unacceptable to commit violence against the IDF and police, the other three percent refused to vote," Tobi said.

Despite the vote by the Yitzhar settlers, they haven't ruled out violence against the IDF in recent months.

In April up to 50 settlers attacked an IDF base of reservist soldiers. They burnt the base to the ground to protest the demolition of four make-shift homes in an outpost of the settlement, considered illegal by Israel.

The settlers also destroyed army tents, heating gear, a fuel facility and a water dispenser and the IDF then took over the yeshiva building, a religious school at the Yitzhar settlement.

Lironne Koret, spokeswoman for the IDF, said as a result of "ongoing security concerns" the yeshiva building was taken over by border police. "The structure was chosen based on security needs to prevent violence and vandalism targeting security personnel and the adjacent villages, originating from the area of the Yeshiva," she said.

Price tag attacks

Authorities say that Yeshiva is the origin of the violence and part of the reason the settlement has become notorious for it's extreme violence and "price tag" attack policy.

The idea behind a price tag attack is that a price will be paid by someone for the demolition of government and IDF-run outposts at Yitzhak. In the past the attacks have been leveled at Palestinians, now settlers have committed acts of vandalism against the IDF.

The Yeshiva has been run by rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, who lives in Kfar Chabad. He opposes efforts to remove Jewish settlements in occupied territories and teaches his students to oppose soldiers and police officers carrying out evacuations.

He advocates "Hebrew-only labor," the idea the Jews should only employ other Jews and believes non-Jewish people should not be allowed to live in the area.

In 2010 another of Yitzhar's rabbis, Yitzhak Shapira, was arrested for allegedly firebombing a mosque. He published a book called "The King's Torah" which said it was permissible under Jewish law for a Jew to kill a non-Jewish civilian. He also advocated the expulsion or genocide of male Palestinians over the age of 13.

When asked why Yitzhar has a reputation for being one of the most violent settlements in Israel spokesman Ezri Tobi said: "I don't really know how to answer this. I think people here have a very specific stance, a very deep Jewish stance that they believe we here as part of a 2,000 year-old prophesy and we came here to fulfill the mission that the Jewish people started thousands of years ago," he said.

Out on a limb

Rabbi Netanel Elyashiv is originally from New York and is a resident of nearby settlement Eli, which is north of Ramallah and is home to around 3,200 residents. "We have to live together, Jews and Palestinians, that's obvious, it's very bad for both of our populations when there's violence or terror. Most Israelis don't really know Palestinians, I get to know them because they are my neighbors - I can't say we play basketball together; we're not that close but we shop together we drive together on the same roads and we have discussions together. I really think the settlers in Judea and Samaria can be pioneers not only of settling the land but also pioneers of peace and coexistence," he told DW.

Elyashiv concedes that certain groups are absolutely opposed to any kind of coexistence. "There are certain Jewish extremists who think that maybe we're going to one day kick out the Palestinians or something like that - in my view that's not only unrealistic it's not moral; I think that everybody who lives in this area has a right to live as comfortable life as he can and I would do anything to help that happen," he said.