‘Thou shalt not steal’: US envoy tells settlers, in fresh condemnation of West Bank home siege

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee warns extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank not to steal property owned by Palestinian Americans, describing such behavior as “a violation of God’s law,” and warning that settlers found to have taken part in a siege of homes in the West Bank village of Qusra, including one belonging to Palestinian American Loui Ridi, could be punished with US sanctions.

Asked what message US President Donald Trump’s administration has for settlers considering seizing homes or land in the West Bank owned by Palestinian Americans, Huckabee, who last week denounced the perpetrators as “Israeli terrorists,” refers to Jewish and Christian scripture.

“I think the message is bigger than just even the Trump administration. It’s a message of basic civility and civilized behavior,” Huckabee says in Jerusalem. “You don’t take something that doesn’t belong to you.”

Citing the Ten Commandments, Huckabee says “Thou shalt not steal” and that people should neither take nor “covet” what belongs to others.

“If someone owns the land and they own their house, then having someone come and take it over and scare the family away from it, that’s a violation, not just of man’s law. That’s a violation of God’s law,” says Huckabee, a supporter of Israel’s settlements.

Offering a defense of settlements in general, he says he believes violent settlers are a minority who do not represent the wider settlement community, which he says “just want to raise their families in Judea and Samaria peacefully and with a level of security,” using the biblical name for the territory.

The ambassador says the US is “appalled” by what happened in Qusra. The Palestinian families targeted by Israeli settlers are victims of “inexcusable and repugnant” criminal activity and those settlers found to have taken part should face significant consequences in Israel, he says.

Huckabee also says that anyone found to be involved could also face US sanctions, such as a ban on entering the US, although he says he is not aware that any such measures are under consideration.

Israeli authorities have not announced any arrests or charges against any settler allegedly involved in besieging the Palestinian homes, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not publicly commented on the incident. A senior settler leader has, however, condemned the actions of the settlers.