Washington Post Journalist Heidi Levine's Resolve Strengthened After Brutal Attack by Israeli Settlers

Heidi Levine, a journalist for The Washington Post, who was severely attacked by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank last week, stated that the harrowing experience has reinforced her determination to continue reporting on the struggles of Palestinians. "What hurts me the most is I can now really understand what others have gone through, what Palestinian women, children, men have gone through," she shared with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Thursday. Recovering in Israel after her release from a hospital the previous day, Levine added, "I’m an American, I work for the Washington Post, my story is getting a lot of attention around the world, everyone wants to talk to me – but I can’t imagine what it’s like for all the victims that have gone through the same ordeal and are living with the threat of this violence on a daily basis." She emphasized, "It actually has strengthened my commitment to continue working to try to make a difference." Levine, an experienced photojournalist with extensive work in the Middle East, was documenting the annual olive harvest in the West Bank when she, along with a group of Palestinians and other journalists, became targets of an assault. Violence in the West Bank has escalated in recent years, coinciding with settlement expansion often supported by Israeli forces. Attacks on farmers and communities dependent on the olive harvest for their livelihoods have become a daily occurrence.

Initially, the harvest commenced as planned. However, Levine observed a gathering of individuals, appearing young and some masked, on a nearby hilltop through her camera lens. She identified them by their religious attire, including kippahs and tzitzit, as Israeli settlers. Their numbers increased to several dozen, and they began setting olive trees on fire while advancing. "Then all of a sudden, chaos broke out," Levine recounted. "There was tear gas, there was gunfire. From what I understand, a man was shot; a Palestinian man was shot in the leg, and the settlers charged forward." She described being thrown to the ground and subjected to continuous kicking and stick blows. "I actually thought, okay, maybe I’ll just play dead and pretend I’m dead, and they’ll stop and they’ll leave me alone." Instead, her assailants began to forcibly remove her equipment, including her camera bag, lenses, and a pouch containing her American passport, credit cards, and other documents. They then pulled her to her feet, an incident captured in videos that have since generated controversy. In a statement following the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that footage "appears to show Levine knocked down and immediately helped to her feet by the same unidentified individual." Levine refuted this, stating, "No, they only stood me up because they couldn’t manage to get everything off my shoulders to rob me, including ripping off my gold necklace that my daughter gave me for my birthday." The attack ceased when journalist Jasper Nathaniel and others intervened to assist Levine. However, the danger persisted, with video evidence showing her rescuers attempting to flee with her while the attackers continued to throw rocks. Rescuers were heard shouting, "Run, run!" to which Levine weakly responded, "I can’t." They urged her again, "You have to, come on!" Speaking to Tapper, she described the scene as "this biblical battle where the Palestinian men, a group of men went in front of me to protect us, me and my rescuers from being attacked again." Without the intervention of the Palestinian men, the entire group would have faced a similar fate. Despite wearing a flak jacket and helmet, Levine sustained significant injuries, including a broken rib, a broken vertebra, and a severe finger injury requiring surgery, as reported by Nathaniel. Her hand remained heavily bandaged during her conversation with CNN.

The assault drew widespread condemnation from foreign press, the White House, and some Israeli leaders, including President Isaac Herzog. However, Netanyahu questioned the details of Levine’s attack, stating that "serious questions remain." Notably, the day after Levine’s assault, settlers attacked a group of European diplomats visiting the Palestinian Christian town of Taybeh, leading to further international outcry. Israeli police arrested at least 10 suspects in connection with both incidents on Monday. However, many Palestinian victims of similar attacks do not receive justice. Since the olive harvest began on September 27, the Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din has documented over 530 instances of "settler and soldier violence," encompassing crop and livestock looting, and the destruction of olive trees. Yesh Din noted that more than a quarter of these incidents occurred "in soldiers’ presence and under their protection." The expansion of illegal settler outposts in the West Bank has accelerated dramatically since Netanyahu's government took office in December 2022, with over a third of these outposts receiving government approval. This expansion has also led to an increase in settler violence in areas previously unaffected. When asked if she holds Netanyahu and other far-right Israeli leaders like national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir responsible for her attack, Levine responded with a humorless laugh. "Well, you hear their rhetoric, right? You hear their speeches. I’ve documented their visits in the West Bank, so I think the answer is pretty obvious," she said, warning that the situation is deteriorating and that authorities appear ill-equipped to manage it. "This has been going on for over four decades that I have been covering this region, but I’ve never seen this situation in the West Bank or the situation in Israel at the level that it is today."