Netanyahu casts doubt on settler attack witnessed by Guardian reporter
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Hours after Israeli militants attacked a delegation of European diplomats, French clerics and a visiting mayor in the occupied West Bank, Israel’s leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, responded by questioning the delegation’s account of the assault.
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“Serious accusations require serious evidence” was the all-caps headline of a social media post from the office of the prime minister. As news of the attack spread globally there was no pledge to find those accountable and bring them to justice.
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Instead Netanyahu’s team dismissed video of Bernard Baudoux, the mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries in northern France, on the ground grimacing in pain and shock, photos of the smashed window of a diplomatic car, and footage of masked men threatening diplomats and activists with sticks.
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“These images alone do not establish the complete sequence of events or individual responsibility,” the statement said, warning of “concerns about a coordinated campaign to smear Israel”.
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The prime minister’s office went on to cast doubt on the integrity of senior French, Belgian and Polish diplomats in Jerusalem and clergy from the Catholic church who witnessed and reported the attack.
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“We call on the public and responsible journalists to demand verifiable evidence, reject hearsay and refuse to turn unproven allegations into a collective indictment of the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria [the occupied West Bank],” it said.
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Footage below filmed by the Guardian (no audio) shows the moments before Israeli settlers attacked the French mayor Bernard Baudoux, who was in the Palestinian town of Taybeh with a delegation of European diplomats. A second clip shows the immediate aftermath of the attack. The final section shows one group of settlers attacking the car carrying Baudoux and others.
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Verifying the details of attacks can be painstaking journalistic work, seeking out eyewitness accounts, photos and videos for confirmation.
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But this weekend the Guardian was in Taybeh, and witnessed the masked militants speeding up a hill in order to attack diplomats and French visitors who had spent a morning peacefully harvesting olives with Palestinians who own the groves.
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Shortly after 1pm, they were warned that settlers had attacked Palestinians harvesting olives nearby. Keen to avoid confrontation, the group decided to leave and were approaching their vehicles as the militants closed in, masked, menacing and brandishing sticks.
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The Guardian filmed the moments before Baudoux was assaulted, showing him approaching an SUV with his wife and Vincent Dollmann, the archbishop of Cambrai, escorted by diplomatic security. Our vehicle pulled away, making room for the two parked by the road to follow.
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Moments later the settlers attacked, apparently determined not only to force the foreigners to flee but to extract a price for joining Palestinians on their land.
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It was clear the group contained foreign dignitaries because the cars had diplomatic plates, and Baudoux was apparently targeted for his nationality, because he was wearing his mayor’s sash of office. One of the attackers aggressively shouted “France, France” before pushing him to the ground, eyewitnesses said.
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Metadata from that video shows there were just 22 seconds between the last shot of Baudoux remonstrating with his attackers and footage of him slumped on the ground taken by activists in the second car.
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The embassy security team then helped him into the vehicle but the attack continued as they drove off. Footage filmed from the hillside opposite shows the settlers attacking the SUV as pulls away.
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The force of their blows smashed one of the reinforced windows at the back of the car, which can be seen intact in the first video. A photo of the crumpled pane taken minutes later in the relative safety of Taybeh shows the force of the impact.
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If the militant settlers had broken one of the windows next to the passengers, it is unlikely those inside would have escaped injuries.
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Israeli authorities have repeatedly attempted to obfuscate details of attacks on Palestinians and undermine survivor or witness accounts.
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For the prime minister to deploy the same tactics on senior diplomats from European allies – however strained their current relationship – marks a new embrace of isolationist extremism.
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A day earlier the American photojournalist Heidi Levine was hospitalised after a brutal attack by Israeli militants blocking the Palestinian olive harvest in another village. Netanyahu’s office described it as an “alleged assault” and a “disputed incident” adding “the facts … remain unclear and are under investigation”.
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The message from the very top of Israel’s government, that the state was reluctant to impose consequences or seek justice for that attack, may have emboldened the attackers on Saturday.
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There was one unprecedented response in Jerusalem, however. On Sunday, more than a dozen of Israel’s top former diplomats gathered outside the foreign ministry where they had all worked for decades for an unprecedented protest.
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Two former directors general, one deputy director general and a host of ambassadors held up signs calling for action on the campaign of terror by Israelis against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
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“Bibi [Netanyahu], foreign minister [Gideon] Sa’ar. Stop Jewish Terrorism. It’s in your hands,” read one banner.
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