US
ambassador to Israel calls West Bank settler attack on American photojournalist
‘terror’
Mike
Huckabee calls for arrest and prosecution of those responsible as Heidi Levine,
63, recovers in hospital in Israel
Sam Jones and agencies
Sun 18
Oct 2026 19.02 CEST
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,
63, 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
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 10 minutes by the settlers, who also stole her
camera, passport and phone.
1:57
American
photojournalist recounts Israeli settler attack in the occupied West Bank
– video
“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 said the attack ended when her Palestinian
colleagues intervened to save her.
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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.”
Mike
Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, said it wa a ‘vicious and cowardly
attack’. Photograph: Ohad Zwigenberg/AP
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.
In an
interview with the Associated Press on Sunday, Levine said she had been
“shocked and insulted” to hear that Netanyahu referred to the attack on her and
others as “alleged”, adding that the prime minister “had all the evidence on
the table”.
But she
described the sharp condemnation of settler violence expressed to her in a call
from Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, and in a letter signed by several of the
country’s top former security and intelligence officials, in which they all
expressed shame over the attack.
Levine
blamed “Jewish terrorists” for Thursday’s attack and added: “I’ve been covering
this region for over 40 years, and I have never seen this country in such a
state as it is today.”
The
photojournalist also said she was planning to return to work when she had
recovered from her injuries. “I’ve invested decades of blood, sweat and tears
into this,” she said. “They cracked my bones, they haven’t cracked my spirit.”
Heidi
Levine said she was planning to return to work when she had recovered from her
injuries. Photograph: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images
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.
Bernard
Baudoux, wearing his mayoral blue, white and red sash, was assaulted during a
visit to the Palestinian town of Taybeh. Photograph: UGC/AFP/Getty Images
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 27 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.
On
Monday, Israeli police said they have arrested eight suspects as part of an investigation into violent incidents in the West Bank over the weekend. The police did not identify the
suspects.
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.
Isaac
Herzog, Israel’s president, said the attack on Levine was ‘outrageous and
shocking’. Photograph: Ilia Yefimovich/AFP/Getty Images
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
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 about 94% of investigations into settler violence
since 2005 have ended without an indictment, with just 3% leading to full or
partial convictions.
The
Associated Press and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
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