by Leonid Tsukanov
[Regnum] The West Bank is once again in turmoil. Radical Israeli settlers are escalating local violence, disrupting the olive harvest in local groves.
Incidentally, the escalating conflict is affecting not only Palestinians but also Western citizens who were "lucky" enough to be nearby during the latest raid. Neither journalist credentials nor, as recently revealed, diplomatic immunity and EU representative status protect them from reprisals.
However, the Israeli leadership, judging by everything, doesn't yet see this as a major disaster. And the foreign victims, to paraphrase Gogol, are repeatedly "beating themselves up."
"THIS IS OUR LAND"
Clashes in the West Bank—which Israel considers its historical land and has no intention of sharing with the local Palestinian population—are nothing new. Representatives of the local settler movement regularly raid local farms and villages.
Particularly popular are the so-called "grove raids," during which militant youths damage olive groves (breaking and uprooting trees) and threaten local farmers with injury, in an attempt to force them to abandon dangerous lands and cede territory for settlement expansion.
In 2026, since the start of the olive harvest season (September 27), approximately 400 attacks on olive groves and local farmers have been recorded in the West Bank—2.5 times more than in 2025. More than half of these resulted in physical injuries to Palestinians (an increase of almost fourfold compared to the previous year).
Incidentally, raids on groves aren't the only thing going on—radical settlers are also attempting to undermine other aspects of the traditional Palestinian economy. For example, they threatened to slaughter all the livestock in the Kafr Malik area (and, to demonstrate their seriousness, slaughtered at least 20 sheep belonging to Palestinians).
For a long time, these incidents attracted little attention or remained confined to local news. However, on October 17, the "olive incidents" unexpectedly gained global attention.
On this day, a large group of diplomats and officials from France, Belgium, and Poland arrived in the vicinity of the Palestinian village of Taybeh (where the majority of the population is Christian). Among them were representatives of the Catholic Church, who decided to support the laity during this difficult time, especially since the latter had repeatedly received threats from Israeli settlers who had settled nearby.
However, the symbolic support tour didn't go according to plan. Before the foreign group could join the local farmers, a group of young men in balaclavas appeared on the horizon. The attackers first pelted the procession with stones, then began smashing cars (including the window of the Belgian embassy's special vehicle) and attacking the diplomats.
Bernard Baudoux, the mayor of the French town of Aulnoy-Eymery, was the most severely injured. He was picking olives with Palestinians at the time of the attack and was closest to the epicenter of the brawl. The settlers pushed him several times, and when he tried to get into his car, they knocked him to the ground and beat him.
Archbishop Vincent Dollmann of Cambrai, France, also narrowly escaped with his life. Unlike Bodou, he and his wife
| …not a Catholic, then… |
"IT'S NOT THAT CLEAR-CUT."
The incident sparked outrage across Europe, with most EU member states condemning the growing wave of unmotivated violence in the Jewish state, which is increasingly becoming systemic and tacitly sanctioned by the state.
Europeans didn't have to look far for more examples: just the day before, American journalist Heidi Levin, a staff photographer for The Washington Post (WP), was injured near the village of Abu Falah. A group of young settlers threw her to the ground and beat her with sticks and kicks. She required major surgery.
In response to the outrage from WP representatives, the Israelis responded succinctly: the situation is ambiguous and could be part of a smear campaign against Israel and the settlers. The public investigation stalled, but after the Taybeh incident, demands were placed on the Israeli authorities to implement a "package" response to all incidents—even if they did not involve EU citizens or other foreigners.
Under public pressure, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office was forced to issue a comment. In an official statement released to the media, the incident was called a "flagrant violation," and the army, police, and Shin Bet were already investigating.
True, the formal apologies and condemnations of "unknown troublemakers" were accompanied by Westerners' countercriticism. The Israelis were quick to point out that the foreign diplomats' visit to Tayyip Erdogan had not been coordinated with the army and intelligence services, and therefore they themselves bear some responsibility for the incident.
There were also hints that what happened was "not so clear-cut," and that European officials and diplomats could themselves have provoked local settlers, who were already nervous about the "constant threat from Hamas."
This framing of the issue further angered Europeans. The EU publicly demanded that those responsible be held accountable and that effective measures be taken to prevent further violence. Otherwise, Brussels threatened to take "its own measures."
However, the effectiveness of these "personal measures"—which most likely referred to personal sanctions and entry bans into the EU for individual settlers and their leaders—has long since been exhausted. This is especially true given that a significant portion of the newly-crowned "personae non gratae" never leave Israeli territory.
However, the anger of European bureaucrats plays well into their political prestige, which settler leaders (including current Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ) are eager to convert into points in the upcoming parliamentary elections. This only contributes to their tacit support for settlement raids in the West Bank.
More stringent and consistent measures from Brussels could break the vicious circle, hitting Israel's wallet and forcing the Netanyahu government to cool the radicals' ardor somewhat.
However, there is currently no consolidated position within Europe on Israel, and even major players like France are wary of the potential image costs of pressuring the Jewish state. This allows settlers to raid without facing any real consequences for themselves or the state.
Related:
Taybeh: 2026-10-19 IDF, Shin Bet arrest 10 suspects connected to attack on US journalist, EU diplomats in West Bank
Taybeh: 2026-08-25 Israeli strikes reported across southern Lebanon
Taybeh: 2026-06-29 IDF officer killed in clash with Hezbollah gunman in south Lebanon
Taybeh: 2026-10-19 IDF, Shin Bet arrest 10 suspects connected to attack on US journalist, EU diplomats in West Bank
Taybeh: 2026-08-25 Israeli strikes reported across southern Lebanon
Taybeh: 2026-06-29 IDF officer killed in clash with Hezbollah gunman in south Lebanon
Related:
Heidi Levin 10/19/2026 IDF, Shin Bet arrest 10 suspects connected to attack on US journalist, EU diplomats in West Bank
Heidi Levin 10/16/2026 Israeli settlers burn olive trees, injure journalist in West Bank attack
Heidi Levin 09/26/2017 Pakistan slams India for using photograph gaffe to 'divert attention' from held Kashmir
Heidi Levin 10/19/2026 IDF, Shin Bet arrest 10 suspects connected to attack on US journalist, EU diplomats in West Bank
Heidi Levin 10/16/2026 Israeli settlers burn olive trees, injure journalist in West Bank attack
Heidi Levin 09/26/2017 Pakistan slams India for using photograph gaffe to 'divert attention' from held Kashmir