Netanyahu’s office on Taybeh attack: It’s too early to draw conclusions, especially amid smear campaign against settlers

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office urges caution around reports of a settler attack against European diplomats in the West Bank village of Taybeh, saying the police investigation is ongoing.

The prime minister’s statement appears to contradict the military’s comment, which condemned what it called the “severe” attack by settlers on the diplomats.

“We urge caution before drawing conclusions from today’s reports that European diplomats were attacked by masked Israelis in Judea and Samaria,” says the Prime Minister’s Office in a statement posted on X, while adding that violence against diplomats is “unacceptable.”

“The more serious the accusation, the greater the demand for compelling evidence,” says the PMO.

The statement lays out a series of facts about the incident — that the diplomats “entered a sensitive area with a history of confrontations without prior coordination with the IDF”; that it included French Communist Party mayor Bernard Baudoux, a vocal advocate for Palestinians; that footage shows masked individuals approaching a diplomatic vehicle, while other images show a broken window and someone lying on the ground.

“These images alone do not establish the complete sequence of events or individual responsibility,” says Netanyahu’s office. “Those circumstances remain under investigation.”

The PMO stresses that Israeli police are investigating “to establish the facts and identify those responsible.”

Netanyahu’s office also raises concerns about a “coordinated campaign to smear Israel and the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria during the annual olive harvest.”