US ambassador urges prosecution after photographer beaten in West Bank

The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has called for the investigation, arrest and prosecution of those who attacked American photojournalist Heidi Levine during a Palestinian olive harvest in the occupied West Bank. He described the assault as an act of terror by masked attackers. His call was for action against those responsible, not an announcement that anyone had been charged. [1] [2]

Levine was injured on Friday 16 October near the village of Abu Falah. Reuters journalists at the scene reported that masked Israeli settlers came down from a hill towards the olive groves, burning trees and throwing stones at Palestinians. Palestinians also threw stones, Reuters said. The Associated Press reported that several members of the settler group beat Levine, who was taken to hospital. [3] [10]

Footage described by The Times of Israel shows masked people striking Levine with sticks while she is on the ground. Speaking from hospital, she told the Committee to Protect Journalists that her attackers had kicked her and that her bag, camera and phone had been taken. The accounts support the identification of the attacking group as settlers, but do not establish the identities of the individuals who beat her. [8] [7]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned violence but said the circumstances were unclear, offering a competing account of a confrontation between Palestinians, activists and Israeli youths. Levine rejected the suggestion that the men who lifted her had been trying to help. Netanyahu’s account does not resolve what happened to her, though the full sequence of the confrontation remains under investigation. [5] [9]

President Isaac Herzog apologised to Levine in a telephone call on Saturday, according to his office, and urged law enforcement to investigate and prosecute those responsible. Israeli police said officers and forensic investigators had been dispatched and were preparing to gather evidence and witness statements. Their account described an investigation, not arrests or prosecutions.