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West Bank attack on French mayor: Netanyahu's office disputes video evidence
Benjamin Netanyahu's office has challenged the account of a masked attack on French mayor Bernard Baudoux and a European diplomatic delegation in the Palestinian town of Taybeh in the occupied West Bank, dismissing video and photographs as insufficient to establish responsibility.
By Haut Monde Post
• October 19, 2026
• 3 Min Read
'Serious accusations require serious evidence'
Hours after Israeli militants attacked a delegation of European diplomats, French clerics and a visiting mayor in the occupied West Bank, Benjamin Netanyahu's office moved to question the delegation's account rather than promise accountability. On social media, the prime minister's office posted under the all-caps headline 'Serious accusations require serious evidence', and made no pledge to bring those responsible to justice.
The post dismissed video of Bernard Baudoux, the mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries in northern France, grimacing in pain on the ground, along with photographs of a smashed diplomatic car window and footage of masked men threatening diplomats with sticks.
These images alone do not establish the complete sequence of events or individual responsibility.
The office also warned of what it called concerns about a coordinated campaign to smear Israel, casting doubt on the integrity of senior French, Belgian and Polish diplomats in Jerusalem and of Catholic clergy who witnessed the attack. It urged the public and journalists to demand verifiable evidence and reject unproven allegations against the Jewish residents of the occupied West Bank.
What the footage recorded
The Guardian witnessed the attack, which targeted visitors who had spent the morning peacefully harvesting olives with Palestinians who own the groves in Taybeh. The filmed sequence, and the accounts of those present, ran as follows:
- •Shortly after 1pm, the group was warned that settlers had attacked Palestinians harvesting olives nearby, and decided to leave.
- •As they approached their vehicles, masked militants carrying sticks closed in on them.
- •The attackers apparently recognised the group as foreign dignitaries from the diplomatic plates; Baudoux was apparently singled out for his nationality because he wore his mayor's sash of office.
- •Eyewitnesses said one attacker shouted "France, France" before pushing Baudoux to the ground.
- •Video metadata showed 22 seconds between the last shot of Baudoux remonstrating with his attackers and footage of him slumped on the ground.
The smashed window and a second journalist attack
Baudoux was filmed approaching an SUV with his wife and Vincent Dollmann, the archbishop of Cambrai, escorted by diplomatic security.
Embassy security staff 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. The force of the blows smashed one of the reinforced windows at the back of the car, photographed minutes later in the relative safety of Taybeh. The Guardian noted that had a window next to the passengers broken, those inside would likely have been injured.
The Taybeh incident came a day after the American photojournalist Heidi Levine was hospitalised following an attack by Israeli militants blocking the Palestinian olive harvest in another village. Netanyahu's office described that attack as an "alleged assault" and a "disputed incident" whose facts remained unclear and under investigation.
Former diplomats protest in Jerusalem
On Sunday, more than a dozen of Israel's top former diplomats gathered outside the foreign ministry in Jerusalem where they had all worked, in what was described as an unprecedented demonstration. The group included two former directors general, a deputy director general and ambassadors.
One banner addressed the prime minister and the foreign minister directly: "Bibi [Netanyahu], foreign minister [Gideon] Sa'ar. Stop Jewish Terrorism. It's in your hands".
