Israelis Attack Americans. Washington Bows.

In the occupied West Bank today, award-winning Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine was jumped, knocked to the dirt, and brutally beaten by a gang of masked Israeli settlers near Abu Falah. She was wearing a helmet and a flak jacket clearly marked PRESS. She was documenting Palestinian families trying to navigate the annual olive harvest under constant threat of harassment. Robbed of her cameras, phone, wallet, and passport, Levine ended up in a Ramallah emergency room with a cracked rib and severe trauma after being kicked repeatedly while on the ground.

First came the Prime Minister’s Office with a masterclass in obfuscation. Rather than unequivocal condemnation, Netanyahu’s office issued a diluted, blame-shifting statement claiming the facts were “unclear” and “alleged”. It suggested the violent confrontation was sparked by “200 Arabs and far-left activists” confronting “Israeli youths”, before cautioning against using “disputed incidents” to “demonize” settlers.

Then came the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. Instead of demanding immediate accountability for a credentialed American photojournalist working for the paper of record in the U.S. capital, the embassy released a hollow, sanitized memo condemning “criminal violence by any party” and politely calling for “investigations”. Watch what happens next: Absolutely nothing.

It is a diplomatic ritual so worn, hollow, and subservient that anyone following Middle Eastern affairs can recite it from memory. For decades, the United States government has practiced a humiliating form of kowtowing toward Israel.

When an American citizen is harassed, detained, shot, or beaten by an adversary state such as Russia, China, or Iran, Washington has a range of diplomatic and punitive measures at its disposal. Yet when the alleged perpetrator is an Israeli soldier or a settler in the occupied West Bank, Washington repeatedly falls back on statements of concern and calls for investigations, without imposing meaningful consequences.

When the perpetrator wears an IDF uniform or lives in an illegal West Bank outpost, American citizenship seems to lose its value. Washington abandons its role as the defender of American citizens abroad and becomes, in effect, the defense counsel for a foreign ally.

The paper trail of blood, broken bones, and manufactured excuses is damningly long, stretching back decades:

• Rachel Corrie (2003): A 23-year-old American peace activist crushed to death by an armored Israeli military bulldozer in Rafah while attempting to shield a Palestinian physician’s home from demolition. An Israeli court cleared the military of all fault, and Washington swallowed the verdict without protest.
• Shireen Abu Akleh (2022): The legendary Palestinian-American journalist shot through the head by an IDF sniper while wearing a flak jacket marked “PRESS” during a raid in Jenin. Multiple media and UN investigations concluded the bullet came from an Israeli military position. Washington issued a murky statement concluding the shot was “likely” from the IDF, chalked it up to “tragic circumstances,” deferred entirely to Israel’s internal non-investigation, and closed the case. Zero criminal charges were brought. Zero accountability was enforced.
• Omar As’ad (2022): A 78-year-old Palestinian-American grandfather pulled from his vehicle at a midnight checkpoint, bound with zip ties, gagged, blindfolded, and forced to lie face-down on a freezing concrete floor by IDF soldiers. He suffered a fatal heart attack. The soldiers involved received minor administrative reprimands. Washington accepted the internal discipline as a sufficient resolution and moved on.
• Aysenur Ezgi Eygi (2024): A 26-year-old American activist shot dead by an Israeli soldier during a peaceful protest against settlement expansion in Beita. Top U.S. officials publicly called the killing “unprovoked and unjustified”—and then proceeded to levy zero policy or military aid consequences against the unit responsible.
• Tawfiq Ajaq, Mohammad Khdour, and Sayfollah Musallet (2024–2026): Teenagers and young adult American citizens shot, beaten, or killed by settlers and military forces across the West Bank over the past two years. Their deaths produced brief diplomatic memos before being buried under official Washington silence.

Now, add Heidi Levine to the list.

The immediate question that Washington officials refuse to answer is simple: Why do violent extremists and rogue soldiers feel so comfortable beating a photojournalist carrying a camera? Because they know there is no penalty.

They know with absolute certainty that no matter what they do to an American national, whether they are a university student, a grandfather, an activist, or a world-renowned photojournalist, the United States government will back down, issue balanced calls for calm, and shield the perpetrators from real legal or geopolitical fallout.

By constantly deferring to internal Israeli inquiries, processes that overwhelmingly end in dropped charges, closed files, or light administrative reprimands, the United States has effectively signaled that its citizens are open season in the West Bank. It creates a vacuum of accountability where violent actors operate with total impunity, confident that the diplomatic shield provided by Washington will remain impenetrable.

This posture of complete submissiveness does not just betray individual Americans; it degrades the very sovereignty of the United States. A superpower that allows another nation to assault its journalists and kill its citizens without imposing concrete penalties is not engaged in an “ironclad alliance.” It is engaged in active subservience.

Furthermore, this dynamic is profoundly destructive to Israel itself. Unconditional protection from Washington acts as a toxic enabler for the most radical, lawless elements within the settlement movement and the security apparatus. When violent extremists realize that even assaulting a credentialed American journalist carrying a camera results in zero diplomatic friction, their lawlessness inevitably expands, eroding the rule of law and destabilizing the region even further.

If the U.S. government genuinely valued its citizens’ lives and safety, it would stop issuing empty press statements urging self-investigation and start enforcing its own laws.

First, the United States must rigorously enforce the Leahy Laws, which prohibit assistance to foreign security-force units when the statutory conditions are met, including credible information that a unit has committed a gross violation of human rights. Washington should investigate credible allegations involving Israeli military units and apply these restrictions wherever the evidence and law require them.

Second, the U.S. Department of Justice must examine every available legal avenue for investigating attacks on American citizens abroad and pursue criminal charges wherever federal law provides jurisdiction. The absence of automatic federal jurisdiction over every overseas crime is not an excuse for inaction. Washington should identify cases where U.S. law applies, investigate them independently where legally authorized, and press Israeli authorities to prosecute those responsible when American jurisdiction is unavailable.

Until Washington proves that American citizenship carries weight everywhere, including in the West Bank, its repeated calls for “investigations” will remain nothing more than empty, cowardly rhetoric, bought and paid for at the expense of its own citizens’ lives and blood. U.S. passports will continue to mean nothing in the West Bank, because the U.S. government has chosen to prioritize diplomatic groveling over the basic duty to protect its people.