Anger in the US, and a message to Israel: "Deal with settler violence"
The siege in Qusra has sparked anger even among Israel's supporters in the administration, which fears strategic consequences and is pressuring Netanyahu to publicly condemn the extremists. However, the Prime Minister remains silent for now, and only Katz published a condemnation — at a settlement establishment ceremony. Former Efrat Council head: "If a true friend like US Ambassador Huckabee has to pound on the table — we have lost our way."
The entrenchment of extremist settlers in Qusra is becoming a point of unusual friction between Jerusalem and Washington. Israeli officials familiar with the matter state that the US administration is demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly condemn settler violence. So far, Netanyahu has avoided doing so, and Defense Minister Israel Katz published a condemnation of the events in his place. Behind the scenes, according to those same sources, very senior officials in the White House are also involved in the matter.
The Qusra Incident
The event that is stirring up relations between Israel and the US occurred in recent days in the village of Qusra in Samaria, where settlers besieged the homes of Palestinian families, blocked access to them, and damaged the water and electricity supply. One of the houses belongs to a family with US citizenship — a fact that made the affair particularly sensitive for the administration.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, one of the most pro-Israel figures in the administration, issued a sharp and unusual condemnation, defining the actions as "terror" and those involved as "Israeli terrorists." Huckabee made it clear that the US Embassy intervened with the Israeli authorities, demanding that the incident be addressed.
Political Pressure and Strategic Concerns
Israeli officials familiar with the details say that Huckabee's sharp words do not stand alone; American pressure is being applied to Netanyahu behind the scenes to issue a public and clear condemnation. "The Americans want to hear a public condemnation from Bibi, and they haven't received it until now," says one source. Defense Minister Katz's statement at the Ganim settlement ceremony («Violent disturbances, I say unequivocally — we are against this») only came after American pressure reached the senior echelons in Israel.
Jerusalem assesses that Netanyahu is careful not to personally come out against extremist settlers for fear of a political confrontation with the right and elements in the coalition. However, Washington no longer perceives the Qusra event as purely local. The administration fears that continued settler violence could ignite a large-scale intifada in the West Bank, complicating US efforts to promote arrangements in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria.
Erosion of Support
A senior Israeli official notes: "It infuriates our friends. They do not accept that it is impossible to enforce the law — deal with it." Officials point to an erosion in support for Israel among the younger generation in the US, including young Republicans. According to the Pew Institute, only 42% of Republicans aged 18–29 expressed a positive stance toward Israel, compared to 83% among those aged 65 and over.
Oded Revivi, former head of the Efrat Council, defended Ambassador Huckabee: "Do not try to label Ambassador Huckabee, the greatest friend of the settlement enterprise in the US, as a leftist. If a true friend like Huckabee has to pound on the table, we all need to stop and ask how it happened that we lost our way and fix it immediately."
