Israel’s far-right security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir today chided police for what he described as “collective punishment” of Jewish settlers, as rifts widen between the security services and the government over sectarian violence in occupied West Bank.

Settler riots in Palestinian towns and villages following the killings of four Israelis in an ambush by Hamas gunmen have drawn international condemnation and the US has expressed concern.

Israel’s army, police and internal security chiefs said in a statement on Saturday that the settlers’ actions over the past week amounted to “nationalist terrorism,” which they vowed to crack down on.

The term caused consternation among far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government.

One of them, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said today that he demanded the police explain why he had blocked access to the Ateret settlement to check passers-by and “used a taser on a bystander.” .

Ben-Gvir told the police chief that he was “opposed to any violation of the law” but could not accept “collective punishment” of the settlers, according to a statement issued by the minister’s party.

Police officials have not yet responded to a Reuters request for comment.

The army said it had arrested a soldier on suspicion of taking part in a “violent confrontation” in the village of Umm Safa, where bystander video showed two men pointing guns in the direction of a Palestinian shouting at them in Arabic. Shots are heard in the video.

Netanyahu has sought to assuage Western concerns about his ultranationalist partners, saying he will direct policy. However, it has caused American reactions with the construction of settlements.

Last week he issued a blanket condemnation of the riots in the West Bank. Asked whether Netanyahu agreed with security chiefs’ characterization of the incidents as “terrorism”, his office referred Reuters to that statement and declined to comment further.