U.S. Sens. Angela Alsobrooks and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland signed an Aug. 26 letter urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take immediate action against violence in the West Bank.

The letter, which was signed by 45 of 47 U.S. Democratic senators, called for those responsible for violence against Palestinians to be held accountable by the Israeli authorities.

The letter also calls for the Israeli government to complete “investigations into and ensuring accountability for the deaths of nine American citizens who have been killed by settlers or security forces in the West Bank since 2022.”

It also urges Netanyahu to “stop approving additional settlements and stop allowing the construction of, and take steps to remove, illegal outposts in the West Bank.”

The United Nations reported over 1,800 settler attacks in 2025, the highest number since 2006, with a continued increase in 2026.

“The actions of these violent extremists are a disgrace and stand in complete contradiction to the values of the State of Israel. Israel will continue to act decisively against such acts and to maintain law and order,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry posted on the social media platform X on Aug. 29.

Amid the increase in attacks, Van Hollen, who has been pushing for a U.S. investigation, announced his intent on Aug. 27 to introduce a Section 502B privileged resolution requiring a report on increasing violence in the West Bank. It is a fast-track mechanism that allows a single U.S. senator to force a floor vote requiring the U.S. State Department to produce a human rights report on any country receiving U.S. military aid. The resolution cannot be amended or filibustered.

The resolution details the alleged killings of nine Palestinian Americans by “violent Israeli settlers or Israeli security forces” in the West Bank.

The resolution requests that the secretary of state submit an unclassified statement regarding “Israel’s human rights practices.”

“I write these letters to the administration, whether it’s the Trump administration or the Biden administration,” Van Hollen told Baltimore Jewish Times in an interview. “They always say the highest priority is to protect American citizens overseas. That they’re going to look into it, but then nothing ever happens. No accountability, no justice. So, we will keep pushing.”

The resolution would require the secretary of state to provide the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs with “all credible information of which the Department of State is aware” regarding the alleged killings, “the status of any ongoing investigations by the United States or Israeli authorities into the killings,” “the identity of the individuals responsible for any of the killings,” and a description of the steps taken by the U.S. government “to urge Israeli authorities to investigate and hold accountable the individuals responsible for the killings.”

“We need compliance with fundamental human rights principles,” Van Hollen said. “I think that when you’re talking about the amount of [money] U.S. taxpayers provide the government of Israel … I think we should be able to get accountability for the killings of American citizens in the West Bank.”

The Baltimore Jewish Council released a statement on Sept. 1 condemning the increasing acts of violence in the West Bank.
“While we appreciate the recent statements from Israeli leaders criticizing the extremist attacks and acknowledging the damage being done to Israel’s standing in the world, swift action on the part of authorities and their thorough investigation of any and all incidents are critical to preventing any further attacks,” the statement said.

Baltimore Jewish Council Executive Director Howard Libit told Baltimore Jewish Times that while he strongly disagrees with what Van Hollen often says about Israel, “in the case of … extremist violence and the impact it’s having on innocent Palestinian families, we are troubled too.”

“This doesn’t represent our Jewish values,” Libit said. “That’s why we called for the [Israeli] government to take more steps to stop it and for there to be investigations of incidents … under the law.”

Libit added that while there is extremist settler violence on behalf of Israelis, there are also continued attacks from Palestinians on Israeli Jews in the West Bank. “We have to keep in mind that Israel continues to be under attack on all sides.”

“I think given some of what’s happened and some of what the Israeli government has said … give the Israeli government an opportunity to investigate some of the latest extremist violence and trust that America’s ally will handle things properly,” he said. “The Israeli government needs to step up and take responsibility to do a thorough investigation and hold people accountable, and I think with the right public pressure, we help make that happen.”

mresnicow@midatlanticmedia.com