U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee’s recent meeting with opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot raises troubling questions about Washington’s approach to Judea and Samaria.
The two reportedly discussed the contentious issue of “settler violence,” a narrative that, in my view, is being used to undermine Jewish communities throughout our biblical heartland.
For a conservative, G-d fearing ambassador whose longstanding support for Israel once inspired such confidence among Jewish nationalists, Huckabee’s willingness to give prominence to this deeply distorted narrative represents a profound disappointment.
The issue is not whether genuine acts of violence should be condemned, but whether those crimes are being used to justify a broader political campaign against Jewish settlement. That concern becomes especially significant when Huckabee discusses the issue with Eisenkot, whose political and security doctrines stand in sharp contrast to the principles the ambassador has traditionally championed.
The dangerous settler violence narrative
By adopting terminology widely employed by anti-settlement organizations, the U.S. Embassy risks lending American diplomatic credibility to a campaign that portrays Jewish communities as aggressors rather than as citizens facing persistent security threats.
More than half a million Jews live in Judea and Samaria, many in communities that have endured years of Palestinian shootings, rock attacks, firebombings, and attempted infiltrations.
Yet the international discussion increasingly focuses on incidents involving Jewish residents, while the organized campaign of Palestinian terrorism and incitement receives nowhere near the same attention.
Huckabee has condemned violent settlers as terrorists, while making clear that those responsible should not be confused with the broader Jewish population. But why has the ambassador made these incidents such a prominent diplomatic concern when Palestinian terrorist organizations continue their campaign against Jewish civilians and IDF soldiers?
The distinction between individual criminal acts and organized terrorism is fundamental, particularly when allegations against Jewish residents are used to advance demands for territorial concessions and restrictions on settlement.
The evidence Huckabee should examine
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of Huckabee’s approach is his apparent failure to give sufficient consideration to the research published by Regavim, the Israeli organization that has challenged the international narrative surrounding settler violence.
In its report, “False Flags and Real Agendas,” Regavim examined thousands of incidents recorded in United Nations data and questioned the methodology used to classify them as settler-related violence.
The organization argues that the figures include incidents involving Israeli security operations, Palestinians injured while carrying out alleged attacks, and other confrontations that cannot automatically be equated with unprovoked criminal violence by Jewish residents.
