Israeli police announced Monday the arrest of ten people suspected of being involved in attacks perpetrated by settlers against an American photographer and a French mayor visiting the occupied West Bank with a convoy of European diplomats. “Following the serious violence that occurred over the weekend,” Israeli police made several arrests “before dawn,” as part of an investigation carried out in the West Bank in cooperation with the Shin Bet (Israeli internal security service), she said in a statement.
“Ten suspects were arrested and transferred for questioning,” she added, without explicitly saying whether they were Israeli settlers. “Depending on the findings of the investigation, they will subsequently be brought before a court.” Settlers attacked a convoy of European diplomats visiting the West Bank on Saturday, beating Bernard Baudoux, 78, communist mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries, in northern France.
The day before, settlers had seriously injured Heidi Levine, an American photographer from the Washington Post reporting in the territory occupied by Israel since 1967. Violence committed by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank has intensified sharply in recent months, with a new upsurge during the olive harvest. “The law in Judea and Samaria (in the West Bank, editor's note) applies to everyone, regardless of their identity or affiliation. The Israeli police are committed to enforcing the law in a professional, fair and impartial manner, based on evidence,” said Police Commander-in-Chief Danny Levy.
An attack “strongly” condemned by the EU
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee welcomed the arrests, calling them "a very positive step forward in the search for and conviction of those responsible for the violent attack and beating inflicted on Heidi Levine", who was taken to hospital with fractured vertebrae. The European Union, for its part, “strongly” condemned the attack on the European diplomatic convoy.
The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the settlers after the attacks against the journalist and European diplomats, denouncing a “defamation” campaign. At the head of a government favorable to colonization in the occupied West Bank, Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking a new mandate in the legislative elections on October 27.
Several Palestinian and foreign journalists were targeted
For its part, the opposition considered that the attacks targeting Western nationals tarnished the image of Israel, while accusing the prime minister of allowing this violence to continue. Benjamin Netanyahu's main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, denounced on Saturday acts of “Jewish terrorism” carried out “under the auspices of the government”. “A handful of criminals are exhausting what little credit the State of Israel still has,” added this former army chief of staff.
Settler attacks are rarely followed by prosecutions, according to Israeli and Palestinian NGOs, which maintains a feeling of impunity. They notably take the form of physical attacks, land grabbing, crop theft and acts of vandalism targeting places of worship and homes.
Several Palestinian and foreign journalists were targeted. At the beginning of October, settlers beat AFP photographer Jaafar Ashtiyeh. In July, a team from the American channel CNN was attacked near Ramallah. Some 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, considered illegal under international law, alongside around three million Palestinians.
