U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has asked Israel to prosecute the masked attackers who seriously injured a Jewish American photojournalist in the West Bank.
He called the Oct. 16 attack a “despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards.”
Heidi Levine, 63, a freelance photojournalist for The Washington Post documenting the Israel–Hamas war and other issues in the region, said in a video interview from the hospital that she was “brutally attacked” by a group of masked men while she was with several Palestinian olive farmers reporting on the harvest in the Palestinian village of Abu Falah in the West Bank.
“We saw in the distance, in the hilltop, I would say at least 50 masked men with slingshots. And when they came running down, I was attacked, pushed to the ground. … They just kept kicking me and kicking me probably 50 times,” Levine said.
The attackers also took her phone and cameras off her body. Levine said she believes that if it weren’t for the flak jacket and helmet she was wearing, she might not have survived. She estimated the attack lasted about 10 minutes.
The attack left Levine with multiple lacerations, a broken rib, four broken vertebrae, and an injured finger, The Washington Post reported.
“Details of who [is responsible are] under investigation, but those who attacked unarmed reporter should spend YRS in prison,” the U.S. ambassador said in a statement.
“We have called for a full investigation, arrest, and prosecution to the fullest extent of the law to whoever participated in this.”
The Israel Border Police said on X that it opened an investigation into the attack to “bring those involved to justice.” They said that “any violence is unacceptable, especially against journalists while performing their work.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) strongly condemned the violence and said it was assisting the police and forensic investigators with the investigation.
“Attempts to incite friction between populations undermine security in the area,” they said. “Attacks and violence against innocent civilians are grave and unacceptable acts.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the facts of the incident “remain unclear and are under investigation.”
“Israel unequivocally condemns violence against anyone—Jews, Arabs, Christians or journalists. Those responsible will be held accountable,” he said in a post on X.
“Reports indicate some 200 Arabs and far-left activists confronted approximately 40 Israeli youths. Footage shows masked individuals on both sides hurling objects, amid reports of fireworks fired at Jewish youths.”
Netanyahu warned against demonizing all law-abiding Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria over the violence.
“The investigation must establish the facts, including who initiated the violence,” he said.
2nd Attack
The prime minister also cautioned against drawing conclusions from a second reported incident involving attacks on European diplomats, saying that such serious allegations require serious evidence.
Netanyahu said the diplomatic delegation, which included Bernard Baudoux, a French Communist Party mayor, visited a “sensitive area with a history of confrontations without prior coordination with the IDF,” which he said was necessary to prevent violence.
“Published footage shows masked individuals confronting a diplomatic vehicle. Separate images show a smashed window and a person lying on the ground,” he said.
“These images alone do not establish the complete sequence of events or individual responsibility. Those circumstances remain under investigation.”
‘Doesn’t Look Good’
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Oct. 17 that the Trump administration has asked Israel to “crack down” on violence in the West Bank.
“We’re very disturbed by those images and what we’re seeing,” Rubio told reporters from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, as he was asked about the violence.
He said that U.S. President Donald Trump has been “very clear” with Tel Aviv that he “does not want to see friction” or a new crisis appear in the West Bank.
Rubio said the U.S. Embassy in Israel is still investigating and that he didn’t have “all the details.”
“I only go off media reports,” he said. “But from what I understand about media reports, it didn’t look good.”
When asked whether the Trump administration’s lifting of sanctions against Israeli settlers in January 2025 meant that the White House endorses such actions, Rubio said, “Lifting sanctions does not mean he’s a supporter of what he’s seeing now on television.”
The president has previously said he is not 100 percent aligned with Netanyahu on how to handle tensions in the West Bank. Huckabee in August warned Israeli settlers not to take property owned by Palestinians after they attacked multiple houses, including the home of a Palestinian American.
Rubio said on Oct. 17 that the arrival of the olive harvest season has been a “time in which a lot of people come into those areas.” The harvests have seen some groups of young settlers organize attacks on Palestinian farmers.
“So we’ve been watching that closely,” Rubio said. “We know that’s an issue there, that’s potentially an issue in Lebanon as well.”
Political tensions are high in Israel, days ahead of the Oct. 27 legislative elections that will determine the composition of the nation’s next government.
Reuters contributed to this report.
