TURMUS AYYA, Palestinian Territories: The US ambassador said Saturday that Israel's government bore responsibility for West Bank Palestinians' safety and should impose "severe consequences" over violence, as he visited families following a surge in attacks by settlers. Mike Huckabee, long known as a staunch supporter of Israel and settlers, toured the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya, home to a large Palestinian-American community, and said he wanted to hear their "legitimate grievances".
As the ambassador met families inside a finely manicured old house, a settler from a nearby illegal outpost approached nearby in a quad bike. "One of the messages that we have been sending and we will continue to send is that people in these communities have a right to live with a level of security and safety, and that the government has a responsibility to make sure that that happens," Huckabee said.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and violence by Israeli settlers towards Palestinian residents has persisted for years, often with little or no legal consequence, but recent months have seen a surge in attacks. Huckabee stopped short of criticising Israel by name but called for action against the violence, which he insisted was the work of a small minority of settlers. "Our clear message is that crime is crime, terror is terror.
When people do it they should have an expectation that they will have severe consequences," Huckabee said. He said that taking action was in the "best interest" of Israel, which already faces growing criticism around the world, including in key ally the United States, over the devastating offensive in Gaza in response to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack. "Their reputation does not do well when it appears that this tiny little group of marauders are somehow representative of the larger population.
I don't believe that it is," Huckabee said. "There may be a few hundred who are responsible, but that's a few hundred too many," Huckabee said. Some half a million Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, home to three million Palestinians.
In the run-up to October 27 elections Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has been ramping up approval of new settlements, which are illegal under international law. Huckabee also denied that Israel was planning to force Palestinians out of Gaza, after Israeli ministers spoke of a plan to expel them.