The New York Times highlights a growing group of former security chiefs and officials who say attacks on Palestinians, land seizures and weak enforcement are displacing communities, damaging Israel abroad and eroding its democratic characterynet|"Once a society behaves this way that society is doomed": The New York Times published an extensive article Monday on the rise in violence by extremist settlers in the West Bank, focusing on particularly harsh criticism in recent months from former senior Israeli security officials. The newspaper opened the article with remarks by Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Ben-Reuven, who previously commanded a division in the West Bank and Israel's ground forces during the Second Lebanon War and now says the phenomenon has become one of the most serious threats to Israel in his view.Ben-Reuven has joined tours in recent months organized by former Israeli officers and senior officials to Palestinian villages. In the article, which was also reported by ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth journalist Ronen Bergman, Ben-Reuven is described as having visited a Palestinian school that had been looted and destroyed and heard testimony from Palestinian shepherds and farmers about attacks, livestock theft and land seizures.GalleryViolent clashes between settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank