Jerusalem (EFE).- The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement on Friday casting doubt on a violent attack by roughly 50 Israeli settlers that left Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine hospitalized, while opposition politicians demanded swift action and labeled the attackers «Jewish terrorists.»
«Serious questions remain. Reports indicate some 200 Arabs and far-left activists confronted approximately 40 Israeli youths,» stated the PMO’s message on X, adding that it remains unclear who initiated the violence, despite witnesses reporting that masked settlers descended from a hillside toward Palestinian olive groves carrying slingshots and bats.
Netanyahu said the facts «remain unclear and are under investigation,» emphasizing that authorities will not allow «disputed incidents to be exploited to demonize the hundreds of thousands of law-abiding Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria,» the official biblical terminology Israel uses for the occupied West Bank.
Earlier in the morning, Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine was brutally beaten by Israeli settlers while covering the olive harvest in the village of Abu Falah, near Ramallah. Attackers stole her cameras, passport, phone, and wallet, according to her account from the hospital and a statement by the Foreign Press Association in Israel (FPA).
Opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned the incident on X, writing that «Jewish terror attacks, this time also against the Washington Post photographer, are not a failure of the government, they are the government’s policy.» He added that Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir «encourages them,» while Netanyahu «knows and stays silent.»
«We will put an end to this. This is a disgrace to the State of Israel, a disgrace to the Jewish people, and a disaster on the international stage,» Lapid added ahead of the upcoming elections scheduled for the 27th.
Meanwhile, Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu’s primary opponent in the election, offered a more measured stance, backing the military’s «sharp and clear condemnation of the incident» and urging Israeli police to «take decisive action against this criminal violence.»
«This handful of rioters does not represent the public in Israel. The actions of this handful stain an entire nation and severely harm the security of all Israeli citizens and IDF fighters,» Eisenkot said.
Freelance American journalist Jasper Nathaniel was also present during the attack and told EFE that around a hundred Palestinians were preparing to harvest olives when youths on a nearby hill began gathering, putting on masks, and grabbing bats.
In an audio message, Nathaniel explained that about an hour into the harvest, settlers began using slingshots to hurl stones at Palestinians and activists, who threw stones back in self-defense.
Nathaniel narrated that soldiers then arrived and launched tear gas toward their position, enabling the settlers to move forward with the army’s backing. He also mentioned that he was hit by a stone in the middle of the clash.
According to his account, a white pickup truck carrying masked settlers armed with machine guns pulled up behind the soldiers and fired into the air, causing the crowd to flee.
A paramedic with the Palestine Red Crescent Society confirmed to EFE that Israeli soldiers also shot a Palestinian man in the leg.
Settler violence and intimidation are daily occurrences in the occupied West Bank, where settlements have expanded rapidly in recent years. Attacks tend to escalate during the annual olive harvest season, making this year’s harvest one of the most violent on record, with at least two Palestinians killed since October. EFE
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