Israel Faces Pressure to Rein In Settler Extremists

Masked Israeli extremists beat American photojournalist Heidi Levine near Abu Falah on Friday. Within a day, the fallout had reached Washington. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that the United States wanted Israel to do more to deter settler attacks in the West Bank. "We're very disturbed by those images and what we're seeing," Rubio said. "We've asked the Israelis and continue to ask them to crack down on that stuff."

Levine, who works for the Washington Post, wore clearly marked press gear when the attackers struck. She was hospitalized and underwent surgery for a severe hand injury. Rubio said the State Department had asked about the incident and that he expected a response from the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem by Sunday.

The Security Picture

The violence unfolded during the annual olive harvest, a period the Israeli security establishment had flagged in advance. A Jerusalem Post editorial said Israeli authorities had anticipated unrest and that the IDF had prepared for nationalist violence, clashes and terrorist attacks. The army, the editorial said, was preparing to reinforce its West Bank presence. It also referred to a reported warning the previous week of a planned Hamas attack, and said the extremists attacking Palestinians did not represent the vast majority of Jewish residents in Judea and Samaria.

Yesh Din, an Israeli settlements monitoring group, said settlers had taken part in at least 170 attacks on Palestinians since September 27, around the start of the harvest. On Saturday, masked Israelis reportedly attacked a delegation visiting olive groves near the Palestinian Christian village of Taiba. Diplomats from Belgium, France and Poland were there. The attack damaged a Belgian consular vehicle, and assailants reportedly assaulted French Mayor Bernard Baudoux. Police opened an investigation, while the IDF condemned the attack.

The IDF said an alert during the Taiba incident went to a brigade operations room meant for security personnel, not civilians. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar condemned the assault and said advance coordination with the IDF could have helped protect the delegation. The editorial said officials should establish what forces were available, when warnings arrived and how units responded.

Jerusalem's Response

Israeli officials at every level said violence against diplomats was unacceptable. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on X/Twitter: "Any violence against diplomats is unacceptable." It added: "The more serious the accusation, the greater the demand for compelling evidence." The statement pointed to the ongoing police investigation and said video footage didn't establish the complete sequence of events. It described Baudoux as "a French Communist Party mayor who previously raised the Palestinian flag over his municipal building, prompting French authorities to order its removal," and suggested reports reflected a campaign to smear Israel and Jewish residents of the West Bank.

President Isaac Herzog spoke more directly. He called Levine on Saturday. "I was morally tormented during Shabbat when I thought about it, and I express deep sorrow and apologize for what you went through," he said, urging law enforcement to investigate and prosecute those responsible. U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee, condemning a separate West Bank incident in August, called violent intruders "Israeli terrorists" and said there was "no excuse for such thuggish behavior."

On October 8, Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed officials to pursue administrative removal orders against activists considered threats to public order during the harvest. The Yesha Council, which represents Israeli settlements, had requested action, citing concerns about provocations and confrontations. The directive focused on left-wing and foreign activists accompanying Palestinian farmers.

An Election Overshadowed by October 7

The violence comes two weeks before Israel's October 27 election, which a separate political account framed as a decision on whether the country moves further toward hard-right nationalism. Three years after the October 7, 2023 attack, the trauma remains raw. Faded stickers bearing the faces of young people killed by Hamas still cling to station walls and lampposts.

Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, is seeking a new mandate after leading a multi-front regional war. Israel reduced Gaza to rubble, occupied part of Lebanon and, with U.S. help, bombarded Iran. Some Israelis see the aftermath as a return to stability: Israelis died in Iranian and Hezbollah retaliatory attacks, but fire from Gaza has stopped even as Israel continues striking the territory and Hamas remains. The economy has boomed, led by technology and defense sectors.

Former military chief Gadi Eisenkot is polling as Netanyahu's strongest rival. "Netanyahu may have his perfect English, but even with perfect English he got us October 7," Eisenkot said. Netanyahu denied reports that he ignored warnings and blamed security chiefs, saying they had failed to wake him that morning. Opposition leaders haven't criticized the decision to wage war. A recent survey found 21 percent of the population identified as anywhere left of center.

Gideon Rahat, a political scientist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Israel Democracy Institute, put the stakes bluntly. "The state without a monopoly on the use of force is a failed state," he said. The account noted that Netanyahu's government has expanded settlements, and that settlers, described as acting with the blessing of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, have attacked Palestinians on their land, with authorities pushing back occasionally.

Why This Matters: Israel is fighting Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran's network while facing a test of its own authority at home. When masked extremists assault an American journalist and European diplomats, they hand critics a ready argument and strain the U.S. relationship at a moment when Israel needs Washington's backing against Iranian proxies. Israelis from the president down have condemned the attacks, and an enforcement failure would weaken the democratic legitimacy that separates Israel from the armed groups sworn to destroy it. How the next government answers Rubio's request will shape Israel's security cooperation with its closest ally and its credibility abroad.