Washington has urged Israel to “crack down” on extremist settler violence following a brutal attack on an American journalist in the occupied West Bank, even as President Donald Trump has given Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu his “Complete and Total Endorsement” ahead of Israel’s October 27 elections.
The conflicting messages come amid reported tensions between Trump and Netanyahu over Israeli military operations in Lebanon, Gaza, and Iran. Nevertheless, the US president praised Netanyahu as a “Great Warrior Prime Minister” in a Truth Social post on Sunday, prompting the Israeli leader to thank him for his “tremendous support and the joint work.”
A day earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the attack on American photojournalist Heidi Levine when questioned by reporters in Maryland.
“We’re very disturbed by those images and what we’re seeing. We’ve asked the Israelis, and continue to ask them, to crack down on that stuff,” he said.
Trump does not want to see “a crisis going on in the West Bank,” Rubio added. “The whole thing was just disturbing, not a good look.”
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also condemned the assault.
“Attacking a female photographer is despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards. Dishonorable act of senseless violence,” he wrote on X, calling for an investigation, arrests, and prosecution of the perpetrators.
Levine was attacked near the West Bank village of Abu Falah on Friday while covering the local Palestinian olive harvest, which has faced recurring settler violence. According to the Washington Post, Israeli settlers knocked down the veteran photographer, who was wearing a protective vest marked ‘PRESS’, stole her equipment, and repeatedly kicked her, breaking four vertebrae and a rib. Israeli soldiers were reportedly present but did not intervene.
On Saturday, masked Israeli settlers also attacked a convoy carrying European diplomats near Taybeh, a predominantly Christian Palestinian village in the West Bank.
The incidents came amid a surge in settler violence. UN officials said Friday that attacks had reached their highest level since 2006, with more than 1,600 incidents recorded between January and August.
Israel has also expanded settlement construction, approving nearly 11,000 new housing units in the West Bank this year, according to Israeli watchdog Peace Now.
The expansion has been championed by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and backed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, both key members of Netanyahu’s governing coalition.
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