The U .S.
Ambassador to Israel on Saturday (September 5, 2026) called for “severe consequences” to stop violence in the occupied West Bank as he met with Palestinians on Saturday (September 5), including the families of U.S. citizens killed by I sraeli settlers, in a P alestinian town in the occupied West Bank that has been the target of r epeated settler attacks.
“Our clear message is that crime is crime, terror is terror. However, he declined to criticise Israel. Mr. Israeli settlers accused of carrying out attacks in the West Bank targeting Palestinians are rarely prosecuted. Mr. Mr. Netanyahu’s government has also overseen an expansion of settlements across the West Bank, further entrenching Israeli control over territory that Palestinians seek for a future state. Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law, with the United Nations and most countries deeming the territory to be occupied. Mr. Huckabee refers to the West Bank by its biblical name, Judea and Samaria, a term used by the Israeli government but not adopted by the U.S. government.
Settler violence in the West Bank has risen sharply since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, the most right-wing in Israel’s history, took office in late 2022. Huckabee, a Baptist minister and longtime supporter of Israeli settlements, has called for violent settlers to be prosecuted, while saying he believes their actions represent a minority of the wider settler community, which numbers around 750,000. Huckabee visited Taybeh, one of the only Christian villages remaining in the West Bank, in June 2025 after a church there was vandalised. He has visited Shiloh, a settlement near Turmus Ayya, at least twice since 2025.
When people do it, they should expect that they will have severe consequences,” Mike Huckabee told reporters as he visited the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya, which has a high number of U.S. citizens. He said at the time that the desecration of a place of worship was an act of terror and a crime. Israel’s government says that the land is disputed, not occupied.
