“Price Tag” Terror as a Performance of Rebellious and Militant Identity: Insights from Radical Settler Groups in Israel

This paper examines “Price Tag” actions—deliberate acts of violence and vandalism carried out by radical right-wing Israeli settlers—through the lens of political violence and performative identity. These actions typically target Palestinians and their property, including mosques, vehicles, fields, and buildings, but can also target Israeli military assets. They are often accompanied by graffiti communicating the perpetrators’ claims. While debates persist regarding their exact frequency and scale, the trend is towards unprecedented severity and regularity in the past three years, underscoring the need for timely empirical and theoretical engagement. Drawing on several years of ethnographic fieldwork among radical settler groups, particularly those dubbed “hilltop youths”, this study combines in-depth interviews with perpetrators of “price tag” attacks and observations within supportive communities. It situates these acts within broader sociological and anthropological understandings of extra-institutional politics, protest repertoires, and the performative dimensions of collective action. Unlike conventional forms of settler protest, “Price Tag” actions rely on violence and performative disruption to challenge social norms, instil fear, confront institutional authorities, and simultaneously enact a distinct rebellious “hilltop identity”. This paper contributes to political violence research in multiple ways. First, it provides a longitudinal perspective on a regional case of ideologically motivated, low-intensity violence, highlighting continuities and shifts in repertoires over time. Second, it foregrounds the performative, expressive, and communicative dimensions of political violence, showing how these acts operate simultaneously as instruments, symbols, and identity-making mechanisms. Third, it examines the societal and spatial impact of these actions, including their capacity to shape public perceptions, provoke debate, and influence community dynamics, connecting micro-level ethnographic insights with macro-level political and security concerns. By situating “price tag” within local and comparative frameworks of political violence, the paper engages with research on the mainstreaming of violent practices, citizen perceptions of violence, and the evolving interaction between radical actors and state institutions. The findings have implications not only for understanding ongoing settler-Palestinian tensions in Israel but also for the study of small-scale, ideologically driven, and symbolic forms of political violence more broadly. This study links ethnographically grounded insights with theoretical frameworks on protest, radicalization, and identity politics.