The American Ambassador: The settlers’ attack on a Washington Post photographer was a terrorist act committed by cowards

Tel Aviv - Ofoq News - The US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, called for a full investigation and the arrest of all participants in the attack on the Washington Post photojournalist, Heidi Levin, and their trial with the maximum legal penalties, describing the attack as “a hateful act of terrorism committed by cowards.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog also made a phone call to Levin, during which he expressed his strong condemnation of the attacks and apologized for what happened to her.

Herzog said: “As President of the State of Israel, I strongly condemn this terrible and horrific phenomenon of violence, whether in the horrific attack to which I was subjected, or in other serious incidents, such as what happened today in Taybeh.”

He added that he felt moral pain on Saturday when thinking about the incident, expressing his deep regret and apology for what the photographer was exposed to.

He continued, "The disgraceful behavior of these criminals does not represent the citizens of the State of Israel and its values," stressing that Israel is a democratic state governed by laws, and that it must confront all forms of violence firmly.

Herzog called on all government, security and law enforcement agencies to use all available means to investigate the attacks, reach their perpetrators and bring them to justice, expressing his solidarity with Levine and her family and wishing her a speedy recovery.

The photographer's daughter: Her injury may end her journalistic career

The Washington Post photojournalist, Heidi Levin, underwent surgery on Saturday after she was injured as a result of settlers attacking her while picking olives in the Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate, while her daughter expressed her fear that her injury would lead to the end of her career in journalism.

Her daughter, Dr. Ashley Milner, said in an interview with the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation "Kan" that her mother "sustained very serious injuries," noting that one of her fingers was almost separated from its place, and that an American journalist named Jasper saved her and helped her escape from the assailants.

Milner added that her mother entered the operating room suffering from injuries throughout her body, including fractures in four vertebrae in the spine and a fracture in one of the ribs, stressing that the family fears that the injuries will affect her professional future.

She said that her mother, who has been covering wars since 1983, thought she was going to a normal work day, before she was attacked by about 15 masked people, who were wearing Jewish prayer threads, and they knocked her to the ground and attacked her with batons and sharp tools, and repeatedly kicked her and brutally assaulted her.

The family expressed their concern for the psychological state of Levin, who is suffering from shock as a result of the attack, and her daughter said: “She feels betrayed. It is difficult for us to see her in this state, after decades she spent covering wars and confrontations in various parts of the world.”

She added that the family finds it particularly difficult to deal with the defamation campaigns against her mother on social media, where people accuse her of being left-wing and that she deserved what happened to her.

She continued: "My mother simply came to do her job as a journalist. We are now focusing on her recovery, but we realize that this attack may change her life."

Earlier, on Saturday, hundreds of former officials in the security services, police, and judiciary, along with academics and businessmen, published a message of solidarity with Levine, expressing their support for her and their concern for her safety, wishing her a speedy recovery.

Among the signatories are former Israeli Chief of Staff and Minister of the Army Moshe Ya'alon, former head of the Mossad Tamir Pardo, former head of the Israeli General Security Service "Shin Bet" Ami Ayalon, and former Commissioner General of Police Moshe Karadi.

On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on the incident, saying that those responsible “will be held accountable,” but he avoided, in a post on the “X” platform, holding any party directly responsible for the outbreak of confrontations.

“Many facts are not yet clear,” Netanyahu wrote, adding that according to reports, about 200 Arabs and left-wing activists clashed with 40 Israeli youth, and that the investigation must determine which party started the violence.