US Ambassador Urges Israel to Prosecute Attack on US Journalist
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has urged Israel to investigate, arrest and prosecute those responsible for an attack that left American photojournalist Heidi Levine with severe injuries in the occupied West Bank.
Levine, a 64-year-old American freelance photojournalist working for the Washington Post, was attacked on October 16 while covering the Palestinians' olive harvest in Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah, according to Al Jazeera.
NPR reported that Israeli settlers beat Levine in the West Bank. Levine later recounted what happened in a video filmed at a hospital and posted online. During the assault, she was knocked to the ground and repeatedly kicked, according to CBS News.
Levine sustained a nearly detached finger requiring surgery, a broken rib, multiple broken vertebrae, and lacerations. The attackers beat her and stole her passport, telephone, wallet and equipment.
Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel appointed by President Donald Trump, described the assault as a "despicable act of terror" carried out by masked cowards. In a separate statement, he called the beating a "dishonorable act of senseless violence," according to his post on X. The US State Department condemned the attack on Levine as "criminal violence by any party". The Washington Post issued a statement confirming the attack on Levine.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Palestinians or "far-left" activists may have been responsible for the attack on Levine. Huckabee's call directs Israeli authorities to pursue the investigation and hold those found responsible to account through arrests and prosecution.
