Lawfare Daily: Joel Braunold on West Bank Violence and Israel’s New Lebanon Offensive

This episode of The Lawfare Podcast examines the escalating violence in the West Bank and Israel's new military offensive in southern Lebanon, contextualizing both within the broader Israeli political landscape and regional dynamics. Joel Braunold, Managing Director of the Center Project, details how settler violence—backed by state institutions and encouraged through infrastructure and weaponry—has surged since October 7th, with Palestinian civilians bearing the brunt of the violence. Despite official denials, the scale of attacks, including murders of U.S. citizens and IDF suppression of journalists, has prompted rare internal criticism from Israeli religious leaders and military officials. The episode also analyzes Israel's controversial new death penalty law for Palestinians convicted in military courts, which critics see as a populist, discriminatory measure designed to appease right-wing factions ahead of the upcoming election. Simultaneously, Israel's military campaign in Lebanon, framed as a bid to create a security buffer against Hezbollah, has failed to achieve lasting stability, with ongoing rocket fire rendering northern communities uninhabitable. Braunold argues that Netanyahu's strategy of military dominance over diplomacy has reached its limits, and that without a political solution to the Palestinian issue, regional normalization—especially with Saudi Arabia—remains unattainable. The Israeli election, scheduled for October, is portrayed as a pivotal moment where Netanyahu's survival hinges not just on security performance but on his ability to articulate a coherent vision for the Palestinians, a task he has thus far avoided.