Key Takeaways:
- Mairav Zonszein’s New York Times opinion piece claims that Jewish civilians in the West Bank operate as state-backed “militias.”
- Zonszein portrays Israeli society at large as responsible for violence by Jewish individuals in the West Bank.
- In platforming a false and charged narrative, The New York Times gives activism more credibility than facts.
Mairav Zonszein has long argued that the problem with Israel extends beyond Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Israeli society at large. In 2024, she made that argument in Foreign Policy.
Now, Mairav Zonszein makes this claim once again, this time in The New York Times, insisting that “It’s Not Just the West Bank Settlers. It’s Israel.”
It is no wonder that Zonszein believes the issue in Israeli society is the society itself, when she has made public comments claiming that Zionism in Israel is “Jewish supremacy.” She has also said it should be “no surprise” when Israelis are attacked by Palestinians because of how they are treated.
Needless to say, Zonszein should not be treated as a reputable source in examining Israeli society. Zonszein’s central argument claims that there is a network of “militias” operating in the West Bank. Failing to mention the actual Palestinian terrorist militias operating there, Zonszein frames Jewish civilians living over the Green Line as operating as state-backed militias.
This framing can only be done by ignoring the very real security threats the state of Israel faces. These threats have resulted in the establishment of rapid-response teams, which she likens to “a neighborhood watch, but with military-grade weapons and the use of deadly force.” No mention that regional defense units’ rapid-response squads were established to defend Israeli communities, and were particularly implemented after October 7, when the security threat was heightened dramatically on every front.
Her evidence for these teams being “militias” is the expansion of Israeli civilian access to firearms following October 7. Yet Zonszein never makes the obvious connection as to why that change occurred. Nor does she mention that Israel has some of the strictest gun laws in the world and obtaining a gun requires meeting specific eligibility criteria and undergoing a licensing process.
Having a firearm does not make someone part of a “militia” – a claim that Zonszein makes and does not substantiate. There is, of course, legitimate concern over Jewish violence in the West Bank, but collapsing armed civilian defense teams, ordinary Israeli residents, and violent extremists into one category does little to explain the reality on the ground.
More than this, Zonszein even acknowledges in her piece that Prime Minister Netanyahu has condemned such acts of violence. Meanwhile, Israeli authorities have taken action against the individuals who perpetrate such violence, ultimately undermining the thesis of Zonszein’s piece itself.
In giving Zonszein a platform to make sweeping accusations against Israeli society, The New York Times helped legitimize an ideological and false narrative about Israel, presenting it as an opinion worthy of publication. It is yet another example of how The New York Times increasingly presents activism under the guise of serious analysis.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
