Former security officials to photographer who was attacked: The attackers receive backing from the government

Hundreds of former senior security officials, including former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo and former Shin Bet head Ami Ayalon, signed a solidarity letter to Heidi Levine, a Washington Post photographer who was attacked yesterday in the West Bank. The signatories called the attackers "Jewish terrorists" and called for a sweeping policy change against settler violence.

Hundreds of former senior security officials, including former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo and former Shin Bet head Ami Ayalon, signed a solidarity letter to Heidi Levine, a Washington Post photographer who was attacked yesterday by Jewish rioters in the area of Khirbet Abu Falah in the Binyamin region. The letter, published today (Saturday), expressed the signatories' deep shock at the violence, called the attackers "Jewish terrorists," and claimed they receive "backing" from the highest levels of the government and Knesset, with resources and protection from law enforcement authorities. The signatories called for a sweeping policy change in Jerusalem to put an end to the phenomenon. The letter was signed by about 600 members of the Commanders for Israel's Security movement, along with about 200 members of the Forum of Police Commissioners and former senior police officials, including former Chief of Staff and Defense Minister Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon, former Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi, former Deputy Chief of Staff and Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai, legal expert Talia Sasson, and others. Levine, 64, was evacuated for medical treatment and was quoted as saying of the attackers: "They are not even human beings. And yes, they are Jewish terrorists."

Former security officials to photographer who was attacked: The attackers receive backing from the government