THE BBC has commissioned a new documentary featuring Louis Theroux on extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
The new show for BBC Two and iPlayer will see Theroux meet some of the large and growing ultra-nationalist community of Israeli settlers, who are increasingly taking more and more land from Palestinians.
The settlements are held to be illegal under international law yet they have been protected by the Israeli army, the police, and the government.
For the documentary, the famous documentarian will embed himself in the settler community to understand the consequences of their activity as well as plans to settle Gaza after Israel’s brutal assault following October 7 led to at least 47,000 Palestinians being killed.
Theroux said: “In 2010, I made a programme called The Ultra-Zionists that looked at the extreme end of the Israeli settler community in the West Bank. Since then, those same extreme settlers are even more emboldened.”
He added: “I’m interested in ideologues and fundamentalists of all stripes. In going back to the West Bank, I wanted to see settler expansionism up close, and the human cost it entails. It’s a story specific to a time and a place and a region, but it’s also a universal insight into tribalism and the ways in which we can blind ourselves to the humanity of those around us.”
Clare Sillery, head of commissioning at BBC Documentaries, added: “After more than 25 years of documentary making, Louis Theroux’s appetite for tackling difficult and complex subject matters remains completely undiminished.
“I look forward to him bringing his humanity and curiosity to this most challenging and timely of stories.”
Louis Theroux: The Settlers is a Mindhouse production for BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
An airing date is yet to be confirmed.
