US ambassador urges Israel to prosecute attackers of Washington Post photographer in West Bank

JERUSALEM — US Ambassador Mike Huckabee on Saturday urged Israel to prosecute those who attacked Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine in the occupied West Bank on Friday. Witnesses said settlers beat her.

Huckabee wrote on X that attacking a female photographer was "a despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards". He said those who attacked an unarmed reporter "should spend (years) in prison". He did not name the attackers as settlers.

Levine, a veteran photographer, was covering the Palestinian olive harvest near the villages of Abu Falah and Turmus Ayya. She told journalists from her hospital bed that "more than 50" masked settlers carrying sticks attacked her. She said she wore a helmet and flak jacket and kept her face to the ground.

According to The New Arab, she was taken first to hospital in Ramallah and then to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, where doctors found four broken vertebrae and said she needed surgery. Arab News reported she was in moderate condition on Saturday. Witnesses said the attackers also took her passport, phone, wallet and equipment, according to Arab News.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Levine was "allegedly assaulted" and that the circumstances were "unclear and are under investigation". It described a clash between about 200 "Arabs and far-left activists" and about 40 Israeli youths. Netanyahu faces elections on 27 October. Video circulated online this week showed Levine being knocked down and beaten with sticks, according to Middle East Eye.

Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu's main rival, called the attack "unacceptable". The Washington Post's executive editor, Matt Murray, urged a thorough investigation. A State Department official earlier condemned "criminal violence by any party in the West Bank".

Background

The attack came 10 days after settlers beat Jaafar Ashtiyeh, an AFP photographer covering the olive harvest, according to The New Arab. He also needed hospital treatment.