Netanyahu says 'smear' campaign targeting settlers as attack on French mayor draws condemnation

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned a "smear" campaign targeting settlers, following a violent attack by Israeli settlers on a French mayor in the occupied West Bank. The Prime Minister's office released a statement expressing concerns about the coordinated effort to tarnish Israel and the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria, particularly during the annual olive harvest. The term "West Bank" is the Israeli designation for the occupied territory.

Netanyahu urged European diplomats to coordinate their movements with the Israeli military, and highlighted that Bernard Baudoux, the 78-year-old mayor who was assaulted by the Israeli settlers, is a communist who supports the Palestinian cause. This stance comes as Netanyahu's main rival in the upcoming election, former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, accused the government of sponsoring "Jewish terrorism" and warned that the violence was eroding the remaining legitimacy of the State of Israel.

The US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, called for Israel to prosecute and jail the assailants responsible for the settler attack on Washington Post journalist Heidi Levine. Levine, a US citizen and photojournalist for the Washington Post, suffered serious injuries during the brutal beating while covering the Israeli harassment of Palestinians harvesting olives.

The Ambassador emphasized that those responsible for the attack should face the full extent of the law, stating that attacking a female photographer is a despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards.