Rubio urges Israel to curb West Bank settler violence after attack
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed concern over settler attacks on civilians and journalists.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

USA's udenrigsminister, Marco Rubio, udtaler sig til pressen, inden han går om bord på fly fra Maryland i USA til Usbekistan. Han opfordrer her blandt andet Israel til at slå hårdt ned på volden på Vestbredden. Kylie Cooper/Reuters
Photograph: BT (embedded from source)
What this story says
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated the United States wants Israel to increase efforts to stop settler violence in the West Bank.
- An incident on Friday involved Israeli settlers attacking American photojournalist Heidi Levine, who sustained spinal fractures and was hospitalised.
- Rubio described the images of settler violence as 'disturbing' and expects a response from the US Embassy in Jerusalem by Sunday.
- The US has asked Israel to crack down on such incidents and investigate them.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 10 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
68/100
Craft
95/100
Hype
15/100
10 sources · methodology
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called on Israel to take stronger action against settler violence in the West Bank. Rubio's remarks came after a video circulated showing Israeli settlers attacking American photojournalist Heidi Levine. The incident occurred on Friday, resulting in injuries to Levine and at least one other person.
Levine was hospitalised with spinal fractures and described as being in moderate condition. According to reports, she was attacked by settlers who allegedly stole her passport, phone, and equipment. The attack took place while Levine was covering the annual olive harvest, an event that has reportedly been disrupted by Israeli settlers.
Disagreement on details of the attack
While reports agree that Israeli settlers attacked Heidi Levine and that she was injured, details about the full extent of the attack and its immediate aftermath vary. BT reported that according to eyewitnesses, settlers struck Levine and stole her passport, phone, and equipment. Devdiscourse, citing Yesh Din, an Israeli settlements monitoring group, stated that Israeli settlers have been involved in at least 170 attacks on Palestinians since September 27, around the start of the annual olive harvest.
What the coverage left out
None of the centre-rated reports mention that US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee commented on the incident via social media, describing it as a 'brutal and cowardly attack' and demanding an investigation. The right-rated reports did not mention that European diplomats and a French mayor were also attacked in the occupied West Bank, as stated by Belgium's foreign minister in the centre-rated Devdiscourse report.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 1 time, most recently on 18 Oct 2026, 01:00, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated left has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Centre
5 rated outlets
- Centre-rated reports led with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's call for Israel to crack down on settler violence in the West Bank. These reports highlighted Rubio's statement that the US is 'very disturbed' by images of settler violence and has asked Israel to address the issue. They noted that Rubio's comments followed the widespread dissemination of a video showing Israeli settlers attacking American photojournalist Heidi Levine, who was injured in the incident. The centre-rated reports also mentioned Rubio's expectation of a response from the US Embassy in Jerusalem by Sunday and that the US State Department had inquired about the event.
Right
5 rated outlets
- Right-rated reports focused on US Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling the settler attack on photographer Heidi Levine 'disturbing' and urging Israel to crack down on settler violence. These reports included Rubio's statement that the US has asked and continues to ask Israel to crack down on such incidents. They detailed that Levine was hospitalised with spinal fractures and described as being in moderate condition, and that according to AFP, settlers allegedly stole her passport, phone, and equipment. The reports also mentioned comments from US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who called the attack 'brutal and cowardly' and demanded a full investigation.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Rubio urges Israel to curb West Bank settler violence after attack?
- Of the 10 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 0% are rated left, 50% are rated centre, 50% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Rubio urges Israel to curb West Bank settler violence after attack left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 10 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Rubio urges Israel to curb West Bank settler violence after attack biased?
- Rubio urges Israel to curb West Bank settler violence after attack is one event reported by 10 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which outlets covered Rubio urges Israel to curb West Bank settler violence after attack?
- 10 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What did US Secretary of State Marco Rubio say about settler violence?
- Marco Rubio stated that the United States wants Israel to do more to deter attacks committed by settlers in the West Bank. He described the images of settler violence as 'disturbing' and urged Israel to crack down on such incidents.
- Who is Heidi Levine and what happened to her?
- Heidi Levine is an American photojournalist with The Washington Post. She was attacked by Israeli settlers on Friday while covering the annual olive harvest in the West Bank. She was injured, hospitalised with spinal fractures, and described as being in moderate condition.
- What action is the US expecting from Israel?
- The US is expecting Israel to crack down on settler violence and investigate the incident involving Heidi Levine. Rubio stated that the US has asked Israel to address the issue and expects a response from the US Embassy in Jerusalem by Sunday.
Read it at the source
10 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Centre
5- US wants Israel to ’crack down’ on settler violence in West Bank, Rubio says (opens Investing.com in a new tab)
Investing.com — is Investing.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- US wants Israel to 'crack down' on settler violence in West Bank, Rubio says (opens Devdiscourse in a new tab)
Devdiscourse — is Devdiscourse biased? Our profile of this outlet
- US wants Israel to 'crack down' on settler violence in West Bank, Rubio says (opens Reuters in a new tab)
- US wants Israel to 'crack down' on settler violence in West Bank, Rubio says (opens Market Screener in a new tab)
Market Screener — is Market Screener biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Rubio says he is ‘very disturbed’ by scenes of settler violence in West Bank, urges Israeli crackdown (opens The Times of Israel in a new tab)
The Times of Israel — is The Times of Israel biased? Our profile of this outlet
Right
5- Rubio Calls Settler Attack on Photographer Disturbing (opens BT in a new tab)
- US wants Israel to 'crack down' on settler violence in West Bank, Rubio says (opens The Print in a new tab)
- Rubio says US wants Israel to ‘crack down’ on settler violence in West Bank (opens Free Malaysia Today News in a new tab)
Free Malaysia Today News — is Free Malaysia Today News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Rubio Calls Settler Attack on Photographer Disturbing (opens berlingske.dk in a new tab)
berlingske.dk — is berlingske.dk biased? Our profile of this outlet
- US wants Israel to 'crack down' on settler violence in West Bank, Rubio says (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
The Straits Times — is The Straits Times biased? Our profile of this outlet
Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
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