US ambassador denounces settler attack on journalist Heidi Levine

The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has denounced an attack by masked Israeli settlers that left the Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine badly beaten and in need of surgery, calling it a "despicable act of terror" — a rare public diplomatic break with Israel. Huckabee said Washington had called for a full investigation, arrests and prosecution "to the fullest extent of the law" of everyone who took part. Attacking a female photographer, he said, was the work of "masked cowards."

Levine, 63, an award-winning journalist who lives in Israel, was set upon last Friday by settlers wielding clubs and other weapons as they attacked Palestinian people attempting to harvest their olives. She remains in hospital recovering from hand surgery, broken ribs and other injuries, and said the beating went on for more than 10 minutes.

"I was attacked, pushed to the ground. Luckily, I had my flak jacket and helmet, otherwise I probably wouldn't even be here, because they just kept kicking and kicking me," she said. Levine added that she has covered the region for more than 40 years and has never seen the country in such a state. "They cracked my bones, they haven't cracked my spirit," she said.

The response from Israeli authorities has drawn her anger. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned "violence against anyone" but described the assault as "alleged" and said its circumstances remained unclear — language Levine said left her "shocked and insulted."

The ambassador's intervention stands out against a backdrop of close US-Israeli alignment, and the pressure now shifts to whether Israeli authorities open the investigation and prosecutions Huckabee has demanded. Levine's account also places the assault within a broader pattern of settler violence around the Palestinian olive harvest, which the attack's targets that day were trying to carry out.