Huckabee calls West Bank settler violence 'terror' during Turmus Ayya visit

Jerusalem,UPDATED: Sep 6, 2026 00:54 IST

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Saturday again condemned Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank, calling such behaviour an "act of terror" during a visit to meet Palestinian American residents shaken by months of attacks.

Huckabee also described violent settlers as "terrorists", a term US officials usually reserve for Palestinian militants. He said the US Embassy could not investigate crimes itself, but could press the Israeli government to address what he called specific crimes and acts of terror that "cannot continue".

During his visit to the village of Turmus Ayya, which has reported frequent attacks by settlers over the past year, Huckabee said: "If there are squatters that come in and put up their own flags and take possession of something that does not belong to them, if they burn a car, if they torch a mosque, if they go into someone's home and vandalize it, paint graffiti on the walls, that's a criminal act. But it extends beyond a criminal act. It's an act of terror." According to the United Nations humanitarian office, such attacks have surged since the war in Gaza began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

Huckabee had also used the word "terrorists" last month after weeks of unrest in the West Bank town of Qusra, where settlers surrounded several homes, including one owned by a Palestinian American. Days later, residents of the village of Bazariya said settlers burned a mosque and left graffiti on a wall in Hebrew reading, "Huckabee regards from the terrorists." Referring to that message, Huckabee said on Saturday: "I'm glad they admitted it," and added, "I don't think that's what they intended to do, but I do think that they represent a very tiny minority." A week ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the actions of a "handful of rioters", and the foreign ministry called the settlers' actions "a disgrace".

Netanyahu's government is the most ultranationalist and religious in Israel's history and has overseen a rise in settlement construction in the West Bank. Most of the international community views the settlements as illegal. On Saturday, Huckabee began his remarks by saying he was addressing US citizens, who make up a small share of the roughly 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank but a significant part of Turmus Ayya's population. "I'm very aware that a lot of the American people who live in Turmus Ayya and other communities across this region are not enjoying the life they deserve to live, not enjoying it in a peaceful way," he said. "It's a life that is disturbed by people who have created extraordinary challenges that are unfair and illegal."

He said the US Embassy could not investigate criminal activity, but it could tell its host government that "there are needs that need to be addressed, there are issues that cannot go unnoticed, and specific crimes and acts of terror that cannot continue without that country doing the investigation and adjudication that every person has a right to expect." Huckabee met about 10 Palestinian American residents, who described the effect of the violence on their lives and properties, according to the municipality.

Israel captured the West Bank, along with Gaza and east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Palestinians want those territories for a future state. The UN and much of the international community consider them to be illegally occupied. Since then, Israel has built nearly 150 settlements housing well over 500,000 Jewish settlers. Israel's military operates across the West Bank, but rights groups have said it often turns a blind eye to settler violence. The settlers are Israeli citizens, and Israel's defence minister recently announced plans to fully transfer law enforcement involving settlers to the Israeli police.

Huckabee's visit to Turmus Ayya underlined US concern over settler attacks in the West Bank, as he repeated his condemnation of the violence, called the acts "terror" and heard directly from Palestinian American residents affected by the attacks.

With PTI Inputs

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