U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee stood in the Palestinian West Bank village of Turmus Ayya over the weekend and told residents that Israeli settlers attacking their community were committing acts of terror, not merely crimes.
Huckabee described the settler violence in blunt terms, saying that squatters who plant flags on property that isn’t theirs, torch cars, burn mosques, or vandalize and spray-paint homes are engaged in something that goes beyond criminal behavior and rises to terrorism.
The ambassador called for accountability and placed responsibility squarely on the Israeli government, stating that crime is crime and terror is terror, and that those responsible should expect severe consequences. He said the government bears responsibility for protecting targeted Palestinians and estimated that a few hundred violent settlers are responsible for the attacks, calling that number “a few hundred too many.”
During the visit, Huckabee met with roughly 10 Palestinian American residents, including relatives of Palestinian Americans killed by settlers. The town’s mayor, Nawwaf Zaghoul, said about 80 percent of Turmus Ayya’s roughly 3,000 residents hold U.S. citizenship.
Huckabee acknowledged facing pushback for his choice of words, saying he’d been criticized for calling the violence terror, but stood by his characterization, describing the perpetrators as a “band of terrorists” engaged in criminal activity.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously condemned the actions of what he called a “handful of rioters,” and the country’s foreign ministry labeled the settlers’ conduct “a disgrace.”
According to the United Nations humanitarian office, such attacks have increased since the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel captured the West Bank during the 1967 war and has since established nearly 150 settlements now housing more than 500,000 people.
