Photographer attacked by settlers in the West Bank feels insulted by Netanyahu

JERUSALEM -- The photographer with The Washington Post who was attacked by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank so badly that several vertebrae were broken said Sunday she was increasingly angry that Israel’s military seems to protect settlers more than the Palestinians they threaten.The attack on Heidi Levine and Palestinians during the sensitive olive harvest — followed a day later by an attack on European diplomats in a Christian village — again highlights the rampant settler violence that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blamed on a small number of troublemakers.Levine, from her hospital bed, has told The Associated Press she was “shocked and insulted” that Netanyahu referred to the attack on her and others as “alleged,” adding that the prime minister “had all the evidence on the table.”In contrast, she described the sharp condemnation of settler violence expressed to her in a call from Israel’s president, and in a letter signed by several of the country’s top former security and intelligence officials. All expressed shame over the attack. Netanyahu, two weeks out from close elections that could end his time in power, is again confronted with an issue that has drawn g...