Israel’s far-right government fans the flames of vigilante settler violence

Religious nationalists emboldened now their representatives are major players in Benjamin Netanyahu's new administration

Five bullet holes now scar the walls and window of Hummus Restaurant, a modest fast food outlet near the settlement of Eli on the Israeli-built highway running the length of the occupied West Bank.

On 20 June two gunmen affiliated with Hamas, the militant group in control of the Gaza Strip, shot and killed four people here in one of the worst attacks committed by Palestinians against Israelis in years. The incident was triggered by a huge Israeli army raid in the West Bank city of Jenin, which killed five people. The restaurant attack in turn led to a revenge rampage the next day by Israeli settlers on neighbouring Palestinian villages, in which one person was killed and about 30 homes and 60 cars set alight.