Police working to overcome settler trust issues, reach out to youth

After over a decade of distrust and even animosity toward the police, members of the settler faction known as the "hilltop youth" -- some of whom associate with extremists involved in hate crimes against Palestinians -- are in regular, productive contact with the Israel Police.

The former wayward youth are taking part in an innovative Public Security ministry project called The Good Eye, which is designed to change how "hard-core" settler youth view the police. The program has been so successful that the youth adviser in a settlement from which anti-Palestinian hate crimes were launched recently enlisted in the Israel Police.

Until recently, the police and the Gush Etzion settler community had been almost entirely alienated from each other. There were numerous cases of settlers throwing rocks and concrete blocks at police patrol cars, and almost every visit by police to settlements was characterized by tension. Settlers often tried to assault police officers.

The residents, particularly the young residents, of settlements like Karmei Tzur, Tekoa, Bat Ayin, and Alon Shvut expressed a lack of faith in police officers, and therefore in the police as a whole.

"The sense among the settlers was that the police were on their backs or wanted to hurt them, especially in cases involving drug use and hate crimes," Avi Unger, who heads the crime prevention department in the Gush Etzion Regional Council, told Israel Hayom on Wednesday. Almost no settlers were volunteering for the Civil Guard, either, and police officers were not allowed into schools to speak to settler youth and their parents.

Once the Good Eye program was implemented, however, things began to change. Project staff brought youth advisers from various settlements on board, and through them, brought a group of hilltop youth and police together for a series of meetings.

For most of the youth, this was their first non-hostile encounter with the police.

In these meetings, the young settlers are invited to discuss all sorts of crime and ways of avoiding criminality and sexual assault. The young people are even offered organized bonding activities, such as touring the police academy, Krav Maga training and paintball matches.

"We found teens who were not aware of the dangers of social media, who were not aware of the risks of sexual abuse, or the effects of drugs and alcohol, or the dangers of physical and verbal violence. We found young people who had only been aware of the negative aspects of the police," Unger said.

Unger explained that while the meetings were ongoing, a hate crime case indirectly related to Gush Etzion settlements came to light and jeopardized the continued existence of the program.

"Happily, the case provided a platform for the youth and the police to discuss the subject [of hate crimes] for the first time. Not only did the program continue, it even expanded," he emphasized.

In light of the success of the project, it is being expanded to some schools in Gush Etzion, and a number of parents have recently contacted the police and requested similar meetings.

More than 60 individuals have participated in the Good Eye program to date. Some of them have expressed an interest in volunteering for the Civil Guard in their communities.

"We still have more work to do to strengthen faith and ties between the police and the Gush Etzion community, but the project has proven that when we talk, everything looks different," Unger said.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan praised the initiative. "I'm proud of our project because I am a strong believer in the need to invest no less in violence prevention than in enforcement. When the work is with young people, it is even more important, because the activity helps them build their future and steers them toward the right path," Erdan said Wednesday.

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