Settlers Attack European Diplomats in West Bank — SkimNews
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- Masked Israeli settlers assaulted a delegation of European diplomats from Belgium, France, Poland, and the Catholic Church in the West Bank village of Taybeh near Ramallah, with video showing stones thrown and a Belgian consulate car window smashed.
- French mayor Bernard Baudoux of Aulnoye-Aymeries was beaten with iron bars, kicked, and thrown to the ground, telling AFP: "They arrived completely enraged."
- Belgium, France, Poland, and the EU condemned the attack and demanded accountability, with Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot pledging to continue pressing for EU sanctions against those responsible for settler violence.
- The IDF and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar both condemned the violence by "Israeli rioters," while the IDF noted no soldiers were present and Sa'ar said the visit was not coordinated with the IDF in advance.
- Netanyahu's office cast doubt on the attack, urging "caution before drawing conclusions" and suggesting the reports were part of a "coordinated campaign to smear Israel and the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria during the annual olive harvest."
- The diplomat attack followed a separate incident one day earlier in which settlers injured Palestinians and Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine, which US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called "disturbing" and Ambassador Mike Huckabee called a "despicable act of terror."
Why it matters: The assault deepens a widening rift between Israel and key European allies, with Belgium explicitly threatening to push for EU sanctions — a concrete diplomatic escalation tied to the incident. The sharp divergence between Netanyahu's office suggesting a 'smear campaign' and his own IDF and foreign minister condemning the violence exposes internal Israeli government fractures over how to respond to settler attacks.
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