> > Jews wouldn't live in Hebron without being religious extremists.

> Just them wouldn't be so bad, but from what I read, the IDF is on the act, too?

This is problematic. Over the past couple of decades the religious right became more dominant in Israeli society. We call them the knitted yamaka's since that's their signature head wear.

They slowly worked their way into the IDF as liberals were growing tired and reduced their service due to the long occupation which is abhorrent to most of us.

Still, it's an Army. You can't choose your deployment and you can get placed in Hebron even if you think Jews have no right to be there. You must follow these orders since they aren't illegal. That's where the gray area comes in. Technically, the army is there to keep the peace. Realistically I've seen videos where settlers purposely taunt Palestinians next to soldiers knowing that if push comes to shove a soldier will ultimately pick their side. This is even more pronounced with the religious right soldiers which can be easily identifiable.

> that there is prevalence of Islamophobia

Yes. The Hamas is calling for a common uprising. Arab citizens have many fair grievances but most of them don't want violence. OTOH there are terrible cases there. An Arab bicycle shop owner donated bicycles for Jewish children who survived that massacre. His reward was that his neighbor torched his store...

So there's a lot of hate and a lot of it is hyped which makes people cautious and distrustful.

> Glad. I sincerely hope they haven't changed their views post Oct 7, and continue to take a long-term non-violent view.

It's not a non-violent view for most. There are pacifists but they are rare. It's about a separation between the actual enemy and the people who might not like Israel, but aren't an enemy.

There are great organizations like:

https://www.btselem.org/

https://www.ahimlaneshek.org/

https://peacenow.org.il/

And many others like them.

> This makes the situation in the West Bank even more idiotic from the Israeli PoV. I read that if Israel orders evacuation, settlers are not entitled to compensation (like Gaza and Sinai settlers were)? So, this can still be undone, though, I suspect armed-settlers would to make this a riot-free affair.

Every time settlements were cleared it turned into a clusterfuck. Soldiers were attacked violently etc. I get the trauma of being ripped from your home... But you can't attack your own army.

The supreme court provided increased compensation in the case of settlers who were removed from Gaza. But it's not about the money for these people. It's an ideal and that's something far more scary.

> inform Israel that a majority of the 2b muslims are watching and they won't like war because in this charged conflict

This feeds into the "we're alone in this" mentality and the need to "show strength". I don't think there's a logical and sensible argument to be made. I read a great piece in the local paper where the author analyzed the problematic nature of "the day after Hamas". The comments were mostly insulting to him and very militant.

I find that when I talk to people individually most of them have the capacity to understand the nuance of the situation. But a mob mentality and siloed communities create a more violent outcome.

> In which case, they'd have to continue to perfect the Iron Wall and continue to work towards fully-autonomous weapons and war machines as deterrence. This outcome would of course suck for Palestine.

This is a scary dystopian future. You asked about what "their" end goal is, I wouldn't be surprised if it looks like that. I hope we can avoid that by kicking out Netanyahu and his cronies but this has proven more difficult than one would imagine.