FUTURE OF JEWISH
These are the most misunderstood teenagers in Israel
Dory Benami
October 15, 2026

…I thought I knew who the Hilltop Youth were. I didn’t. There are ideological activists in that world, and there are people who commit violence. But there are also boys who arrived because school went badly, home went badly, or because a remote farm was the first place anyone gave them a job, a bed, and a role. Some are very young. Recent Israeli reporting describes children as young as 10 showing up at isolated farms after dropping out of school, sometimes without much adult supervision. Israeli security officials describe a larger group dominated by teenagers who dropped out of the education system or got into trouble with the law. A 10-year-old isn’t working through the Oslo Accords, international law, or competing theories of sovereignty. He wants somewhere to belong. The word “outpost” can make these places sound more substantial than they are. Sometimes you’re talking about a caravan on a rocky hill, a water tank, solar panels, a generator, rough fencing, dirt roads, and sheep — lots of sheep. READ MORE