Gangster Regime -- Digby

[erronis]

https://digbysblog.net/2026/03/29/gangster-regime/

(A powerful and very disturbing video.)

Did you think they were stopping at Gaza? Of course not (CNN):

Twelve hours after Israeli settlers brutally attacked several Palestinians and established a new illegal outpost in their village, the Israeli military stepped in. But instead of detaining settlers or dismantling the illegal outpost, the soldiers targeted the Palestinian residents of Tayasir and a CNN team covering the incursion.

"Stop! Sit down! Sit down!" one of the Israelis shouted, his rifle aimed directly at us and the Palestinians we were speaking with. Seventy-three seconds later, one of the soldiers came up from behind CNN photojournalist Cyril Theophilos and put him in a chokehold, bringing him to the ground and damaging his camera.

Within minutes, we and several Palestinians in the area were detained by the soldiers.

The two hours we spent detained by them laid bare the settler ideology motivating many of the soldiers who operate in the occupied West Bank - and the ways in which soldiers frequently act in service of the settler movement. Their comments build on a large body of evidence documented by journalists, activists and Palestinians that show Israeli soldiers supporting or standing idly by as Israeli settlers attack Palestinians or encroach on their land.

One Israeli soldier, who identified himself as Meir, acknowledged that the settler outpost he was protecting in Tayasir is illegal under Israeli law, which deems established settlements legal in contravention of international law. "But this will be a legal settlement," Meir said. "Slowly, slowly." Asked if he is helping make that a reality, he responded quickly: "Of course ... I help my people."

Meir was describing the settler playbook: establish outposts on Palestinian land, count on protection or inaction from Israeli soldiers and eventually secure a government decree legalizing the outpost. The current Israeli government - the most right wing in the country's history - has legalized dozens of such outposts since Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Meir and another soldier - the one who assaulted Theophilos - repeatedly declared that all of the West Bank belongs to Israel and the Jewish people, echoing the language of far-right government ministers. They also described all Palestinians as terrorists and spoke of revenge.

The journalist they detained was Jeremy Diamond, a famous CNN foreign correspondent. They did not care that it was being filmed. They do not care what the world thinks of them anymore. It's might makes right and with Donald Trump in the White House as their only ally in this new era, the believe they can do whatever they choose.

And it's not just the West Bank, of course. They are currently leveling Lebanon and Iran.

It was so bad that even Jake Tapper said it was unacceptable. (Of course it was a colleague but still ...)