Summary
- Israeli police said they arrested 10 people after weekend settler attacks on a US photojournalist and on a convoy of European diplomats in the West Bank.
- Rights groups also say settler attacks on Palestinians are surging, and attackers have also gone after journalists, Israeli activists and foreign observers.
- For now, the settler attacks have pushed the authorities into action, though Palestinian farmers say the harvest is still dangerous.
Israeli police said they arrested 10 people after weekend settler attacks on a US photojournalist and on a convoy of European diplomats in the West Bank.
Officers raided several locations before dawn, seizing cars and possible evidence. Police took the suspects in for questioning but did not name them.
Army Radio reported that the detainees are Israeli citizens.
What police say the suspects did
West Bank police commander Major General Moshe Finchi spoke of “severe incidents of violence” over the weekend, among them an assault on a media worker and suspected attacks on foreign civilians.
Police suspect the detainees of taking part in the violence, breaching a closed military zone order and building illegally.
Police chief Daniel Levy said enforcement must treat every person alike, whatever their identity or affiliation. He promised equal and impartial work based on evidence.
The Shin Bet security service and military forces joined police in the operation.
A police video showed at least one detainee in ritual tassels that observant Jewish men often wear. Officers also seemed to find two slingshots, which can launch stones, at one property.
The settler attacks behind the arrests
On Friday, video captured masked settlers hitting Heidi Levine, a veteran photographer on assignment for a US newspaper. The settler attacks began when dozens of men, some armed, converged on a Palestinian olive harvest, and a few threw stones from slingshots.
Levine suffered broken vertebrae, according to one report, and another said she underwent surgery on a finger.
A day later, masked settlers hit European diplomats on a goodwill trip through Taybeh, a largely Christian town. They beat Bernard Baudoux, the 78-year-old mayor of the French town of Aulnoye-Aymeries, and damaged a Belgian diplomatic vehicle.
Washington, which is Israel’s closest ally, had called for a crackdown on settler attacks. France, Belgium and Poland, whose diplomats came under attack, also pressed Israel to act.
US Ambassador Mike Huckabee called the arrests “a very positive development” in finding those who beat Levine.
Political backdrop
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and the military pinned the assault on the diplomats on “Israeli rioters.” President Isaac Herzog apologised to Levine and said the attackers do not represent the values of Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been more circumspect. In his account, the diplomats drove into a “sensitive area” with no coordination with the army. He also described the facts of the Levine case as “unclear.”
His religious-nationalist coalition faces a tight vote on October 27, and polls project that it will lose its majority.
Rights groups say prosecutions of settlers are rare when victims are Palestinian. According to Yesh Din, an Israeli rights group, there have been at least 170 attacks on Palestinians since September 27.
Rights groups also say settler attacks on Palestinians are surging, and attackers have also gone after journalists, Israeli activists and foreign observers. The police operation involved officers, soldiers and the Shin Bet, so the case drew wide attention. For now, the settler attacks have pushed the authorities into action, though Palestinian farmers say the harvest is still dangerous.
We welcome your contributions! Submit your blogs, opinion pieces, press releases, news story pitches, and news features to opinion@minutemirror.com.pk and minutemirrormail@gmail.com
