LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Israeli police have arrested at least 10 suspects in a series of Israeli settler attacks in the occupied West Bank. A Washington Post photographer was assaulted by masked Israeli settlers on Friday. The U.S. condemned that attack. The next day, settlers attacked European diplomats. But President Trump has now announced he's endorsing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israeli elections, which will be held next week. NPR's Daniel Estrin is joining us now from Tel Aviv. Good morning.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: So walk us through what happened in these attacks.
ESTRIN: Well, as you said, on Friday, masked Israeli settlers attacked the Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine. She was covering Palestinian olive harvesters out in their fields when they were attacked by settlers as well. Heidi Levine spoke with All Things Considered on Friday from the hospital.
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HEIDI LEVINE: I had my helmet, my flak jacket also labeled with press signs on it. And they just jumped me, threw me to the ground. They started to kick me. This went on for over 10 minutes. Midway through, they forced me to - onto my feet and - just to knock me down again.
ESTRIN: Her children say her finger was nearly detached from her hand from this attack, and she suffered broken vertebrae, two broken ribs. I spoke to her son this morning. He said her pain has increased. She can't get out of bed without assistance. This is a very experienced, longtime war photographer. And it's not the first time settlers have attacked journalists. In August, we saw a settler attack on an NBC crew. But the day after she was attacked - on Saturday - masked Israeli settlers again attacked, this time a group of European diplomats. They were visiting a Palestinian village, also for the olive harvest. Belgium's consul general was attacked, as well as a mayor from an - from northern France. He says he was hit with metal bars and thrown to the ground.
FADEL: So tell us more about the arrests.
ESTRIN: Yeah. Israel says it's arrested at least 10 people connected to these events. It's released footage showing police appearing to arrest young Israeli settlers from unauthorized settlement outposts in the West Bank. And this is rare. Israel makes few arrests, usually, of settlers in relation to attacks on Palestinians. The far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu is a major backer of settlers. And their strategy has been to squat on more and more land, to intimidate and attack more Palestinians.
The arrests this morning came after U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee called the attack on the Washington Post journalist a despicable act of terror. And we also saw condemnations by Israel's president, by the foreign minister. But Benjamin Netanyahu's office struck a note of skepticism. He called these alleged attacks. His office said more evidence was needed in these cases. Remember, Netanyahu is trying to win over the right-wing pro-settler vote in elections next week.
FADEL: Right. And The Washington Post has rejected that claim of alleged, right? Why did Trump endorse Netanyahu in this election?
ESTRIN: Yeah. That endorsement came as a surprise. The Trump administration's relations with Netanyahu have been seen as quite rocky in recent months. But Trump on Sunday said on social media he wanted Netanyahu to be reelected. He said that he may have to, quote, "soon finish the job" with regards to Iran and that he would need Israel's help with that and that Netanyahu would be the only leader of Israel who would agree to help. I spoke to a person briefed on the matter, not authorized to speak publicly, who said Trump and Netanyahu have in recent weeks been discussing the possibility of a new attack on Iran.
So this endorsement by Trump of Netanyahu is a major boost for the prime minister. He's trailing in the polls against his opposition front-runner, Gadi Eisenkot. And so now Netanyahu is campaigning that if he's reelected, he will, quote, "destroy the Iranian threat." And he says he's got two more years to do that with Trump left - still left in office.
FADEL: NPR's Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv. Thank you, Daniel.
ESTRIN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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