Slain Israel settler was well-known far-right activist

The Israeli settler killed by a Palestinian youth in the southern occupied West Bank yesterday was a well-known far-right Israel advocate.

Ari Fuld, who lived in the illegal Efrat settlement, was a central committee member of far-right political party National Union, reported the Jerusalem Post, which ran in the last election as a group within coalition partner Jewish Home.

Ari’s brother, Eytan, is spokesperson for National Union and Jewish Home MK Bezalel Smotrich.

Fuld, who immigrated to Israel from the US, laid out his views in a number of articles over the years, as well as in TV appearances and on his personal YouTube channel.

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In August 2017, Fuld uploaded a clip of him harassing and shouting at Palestinian human rights defender Issa Amro in Hebron, who he described as a “Muslim provocateur”.

Fuld believed that Palestine was “a fabricated national claim”, and that Palestinians have no claim to any of the occupied West Bank, which he urged Israel to formally annex in its entirety.

In two blog posts in 2016, Fuld advocated that Israel should offer “three choices for our enemies”: “accept Israel as the Jewish country”, “leave”, or “meet the IDF [Israeli military]”.

This is similar to a proposal formally approved by the National Union party in September 2017, based around a “surrender-or-transfer ultimatum” for the Palestinians.

Ari Fuld was eulogised by US Ambassador David Friedman, a long-time supporter of the West Bank settlement enterprise, who said he “represented the best of both countries [US and Israel]”.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, hailed Fuld as “an advocate for Israel who fought to spread the truth about Israel”.

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