Huckabee calls on Israel to ‘aggressively’ probe ‘terrorist murder’ of US-Palestinian in West Bank

In a highly rare statement weighing in on Israeli policy in the West Bank, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee says that he has asked Jerusalem to “aggressively investigate the murder” of Palestinian-American Saif Musalat after he was allegedly beaten to death by settlers in the village of Sinjil near Ramallah last week.

“There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act. Saif was just 20 yrs old,” Huckabee says in a post on X.

This appears to be one of the first times that Huckabee has commented on rampant settler violence in the West Bank, though he avoids using the term or characterizing the killing as part of a phenomenon.

A devout evangelical Christian, Huckabee has long expressed support for Israel annexing the West Bank.

Christian Palestinian activists have been circulating a petition in recent days urging Huckabee to call out settler violence that has targeted the Christian village of Taybeh.

I have asked @Israel to aggressively investigate the murder of Saif Mussallet, an American citizen who was visiting family in Sinjil when he was beaten to death. There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act. Saif was just 20 yrs old.

— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) July 15, 2025