The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has denounced the settler attack that left the Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine badly beaten and needing surgery as a “despicable act of terror” and called for the arrest and prosecution of those responsible.
Levine, an award-winning journalist who lives in Israel, was set upon last Friday by masked Israeli settlers who used clubs and other weapons to attack Palestinian people attempting to harvest their olives in occupied West Bank towns.
The ۶۳-year-old photographer, who is in a hospital in Petah Tikva near Tel Aviv recovering from hand surgery, broken ribs and other injuries she sustained in the attack, said she was beaten for more than ۱۰ minutes by the settlers, who also stole her camera, passport and phone.
“I was attacked, pushed to the ground,” Levine said. “Luckily, I had my flak jacket and helmet, otherwise I probably wouldn’t even be here, because they just kept kicking and kicking me.” She added the attack ended when her Palestinian colleagues intervened to save her.
Huckabee, a rightwing ally of President Donald Trump with a track record of hardline, pro-Israel rhetoric, was notably blunt in his condemnation of what he called the “vicious and cowardly attack” on Levine. In a post on X on Saturday, he noted that she was a US citizen who had been clearly identifiable as a journalist.
“We have called for a full investigation, arrest, and prosecution to the fullest extent of the law to whoever participated in this,” Huckabee added. “Attacking a female photographer is despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards. Dishonorable act of senseless violence.”
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been ambiguous in addressing Levine’s assault, condemning “violence against anyone” but referring to the attack as “alleged” and saying its circumstances remain unclear.
The attack on the Palestinian farmers and Levine was followed on Saturday by another outbreak of settler violence directed against European diplomats, a French mayor and the archbishop of the French city of Cambrai, who were visiting the occupied West Bank.
Bernard Baudoux, the mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries, was wearing his red, white and blue sash of office and attempting to enter a vehicle with diplomatic plates when he was assaulted and knocked to the ground. A masked militant shouted “Vive la France!” as he launched the attack, a witness said. Badoux’s wife, and Vincent Dollmann, the archbishop of Cambrai, were also threatened by the group of seven men, some armed with clubs.
The group had joined the olive harvest on lands belonging to the Christian town of Taybeh, along with the French consul general in Jerusalem, his wife and other diplomats, and the Belgian and Polish consuls.
“I think that if settlers are behaving like this, there is a tolerance on the part of the Israeli government,” Baudoux told Agence France-Presse after he was attacked.
“The whole world needs to know what’s happening. For me, I’ll go back to my country and everything will be fine. Those who continue to suffer the most are those who are here.”
Violence is surging ahead of bitterly fought elections to be held on ۲۷ October, with Palestinians’ annual olive harvest being repeatedly disrupted by Israeli settlers as Netanyahu seeks to shore up his pro-settlement rightwing base.
France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, has called on Israel to “urgently halt criminal violence” and to arrest those responsible for attacking Baudoux. The EU has condemned the attack and urged “full accountability as well as effective measures to prevent continued acts of violence and violent harassment against Palestinians, including during the ongoing olive harvest season, as well as against journalists”.
The European Commission executive vice-president, Teresa Ribera, went further, posting an interview with Levine in hospital and adding the caption: “They want no witnesses.”
Israel’s foreign ministry has condemned the attack on the diplomats and Israeli police promised to open an investigation.
President Isaac Herzog, who holds a mostly ceremonial role, called Levine in hospital on Saturday, saying the attack was “outrageous and shocking” and was weighing on his conscience.
Netanyahu’s main rival in the elections, the former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, criticised the prime minister over the violence, saying it was “burning away the little legitimacy the state of Israel still possesses”. He described the attacks as “Jewish terrorism, under the auspices of the Israeli government”.
Trump officially endorsed Netanyahu for re-election in a post on his Truth Social network on Sunday, hailing him as “a Great Warrior Prime Minister, and an even greater Partner for Peace in combatting the Islamic Republic of Iran”. He added: “Bibi Netanyahu has been Strong, Brave, and Brilliant in the face of tremendous opposition, including that coming from even Israel, itself.”
The Washington Post has reiterated its call for a full and transparent investigation into the attack on Levine, even though Israel rarely investigates settler violence fully.
Yesh Din, an Israeli rights group, says around ۹۴% of investigations into settler violence since ۲۰۰۵ have ended without an indictment, with just ۳% leading to full or partial convictions.
The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
