Guardian
reporter filmed masked militants seconds before West Bank attack on French
mayor
Emma
Graham-Harrisonin Jerusalem
New video
footage of Israeli settler assault on European delegation as Netanyahu attempts
to raise doubt
Sun 18
Oct 2026 20.39 CEST
Hours
after Israeli militants attacked
a delegation of European diplomats, French clerics and a visiting mayor in
the occupied West Bank, Israel’s leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, responded by
questioning the delegation’s account of the assault.
“Serious
accusations require serious evidence” was the all-caps headline of a social
media post from
the office of the prime minister. As news of the attack spread globally there
was no pledge to find those accountable and bring them to justice.
Instead
Netanyahu’s team dismissed video of Bernard Baudoux, the mayor of
Aulnoye-Aymeries in northern France, on the ground grimacing in pain and shock,
photos of the smashed window of a diplomatic car, and footage of masked men
threatening diplomats and activists with sticks.
“These
images alone do not establish the complete sequence of events or individual
responsibility,” the statement said, warning of “concerns about a coordinated
campaign to smear Israel”.
The prime
minister’s office went on to cast doubt on the integrity of senior French,
Belgian and Polish diplomats in Jerusalem and clergy from the Catholic church
who witnessed and reported the attack.
“We call
on the public and responsible journalists to demand verifiable evidence, reject
hearsay and refuse to turn unproven allegations into a collective indictment of
the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria [the occupied West Bank],” it said.
Verifying
the details of attacks can be painstaking journalistic work, seeking out
eyewitness accounts, photos and videos for confirmation.
But this
weekend the Guardian was in Taybeh, and witnessed the masked militants speeding
up a hill in order to attack diplomats and French visitors who had spent a
morning peacefully harvesting olives with Palestinians who own the groves.
The
smashed window of the car carrying Bernard Baudoux. Photograph: Emma
Graham-Harrison/The Guardian
Shortly
after 1pm, they were warned that settlers had attacked Palestinians harvesting
olives nearby. Keen to avoid confrontation, the group decided to leave and were
approaching their vehicles as the militants closed in, masked, menacing and
brandishing sticks.
The
Guardian filmed the moments before Baudoux was assaulted, showing him
approaching an SUV with his wife and Vincent Dollmann, the archbishop of
Cambrai, escorted by diplomatic security. Our vehicle pulled away, making room
for the two parked by the road to follow.
Moments
later the settlers attacked, apparently determined not only to force the
foreigners to flee but to extract a price for joining Palestinians on their
land.
It was
clear the group contained foreign dignitaries because the cars had diplomatic
plates, and Baudoux was apparently targeted for his nationality, because he was
wearing his mayor’s sash of office. One of the attackers aggressively shouted
“France, France” before pushing him to the ground, eyewitnesses said.
Metadata
from that video shows there were just 22 seconds between the last shot of
Baudoux remonstrating with his attackers and footage of him slumped on the
ground taken by activists in the second car.
The
embassy security team then helped him into the vehicle but the attack continued
as they drove off. Footage filmed from the hillside opposite shows the settlers
attacking the SUV as it pulls away.
The force
of their blows smashed one of the reinforced windows at the back of the car,
which can be seen intact in the first video. A photo of the crumpled pane taken
minutes later in the relative safety of Taybeh shows the force of the impact.
If the
militant settlers had broken one of the windows next to the passengers, it is
unlikely those inside would have escaped injuries.
Former
Israeli ambassadors and employees demonstrated outside the foreign ministry,
demanding the prime minister and his government ‘Stop Jewish Terrorism. It’s in
your hands’. Photograph: Quique Kierszenbaum/The Guardian
Israeli
authorities have repeatedly attempted to obfuscate
details of attacks on Palestinians and undermine survivor or witness accounts.
For the
prime minister to deploy the same tactics on senior diplomats from European
allies – however strained their current relationship – marks a new embrace of
isolationist extremism.
A day
earlier the American photojournalist Heidi Levine was hospitalised
after a brutal attack by Israeli militants blocking the Palestinian olive
harvest in another village. Netanyahu’s office described it as an “alleged
assault” and a “disputed incident” adding “the facts … remain unclear and are
under investigation”.
The
message from the very top of Israel’s government, that the state was reluctant
to impose consequences or seek justice for that attack, may have emboldened the
attackers on Saturday.
The
protest outside the foreign ministry in Jerusalem drew a response from
conservative passersby. Photograph: Quique Kierszenbaum/The Guardian
There was
one unprecedented response in Jerusalem, however. On Sunday, more than a dozen
of Israel’s top former diplomats gathered outside the foreign ministry where
they had all worked for decades for an unprecedented protest.
Two
former directors general, one deputy director general and a host of ambassadors
held up signs calling for action on the campaign of terror by Israelis against
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
“Bibi
[Netanyahu], foreign minister [Gideon] Sa’ar. Stop Jewish Terrorism. It’s in
your hands,” read one banner.
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