The son of Israel’s ambassador to the United States was critically injured after a Palestinian man rammed his car into a military checkpoint in the West Bank, the Israeli authorities have said.
Violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank has surged in recent weeks, fueling growing worries that the territory could erupt.
The injured man, Neria Leiter, 39, a reserve soldier and the son of Ambassador Yechiel Leiter, was hurt after a Palestinian man drove his vehicle into a security checkpoint northwest of Jerusalem on Wednesday, the Israeli military said in a statement. The military added that the assailant had been shot dead.
The Palestinian authorities said that Mahmoud Suleiman, 29, a Palestinian man, had been killed by Israel in that area but did not say whether he had attacked the checkpoint.
Mr. Leiter said in a video statement on Thursday from Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, the hospital where his son was being treated, that his son’s life was “hanging in the balance.”
The attack on the checkpoint occurred as violence in the West Bank has soared in the wake of the Israeli war in Gaza that followed the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
On Sunday, the eve of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, a Palestinian man shot and killed an Israeli in the West Bank, according to the Israeli authorities, who said that they had detained a suspect over the shooting.
At the same time, Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank have hit record levels, according to U.N. data, with the Israeli authorities appearing to do little to stop them in some cases. In 2026, at least 18 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with settlers, the U.N. humanitarian office reported.
The Israeli military has also started sweeping raids in the territory, saying that troops are targeting Palestinian armed groups.
Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, including about 80 this year, according to the U.N. humanitarian office.
Several former Israeli generals have condemned the rise in settler attacks as “Jewish terrorism” and criticized the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not doing enough to stop them. In March, Israel’s top general for the West Bank, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, said in an open letter that violence by Israeli civilians against Palestinians could set the territory ablaze.
Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, has condemned the increased targeting of Palestinians in the West Bank as “terrorist” attacks.
Palestinian armed groups have also carried out deadly attacks against Israeli civilians in the territory. More than 40 Israelis have been killed in the West Bank over the past three years, according to the U.N. data.
Mr. Leiter’s older son, Moshe Leiter, a reservist in an elite naval unit, was killed during the first months of the Israeli war in Gaza.
Alexander Ioscovich, deputy director general of Shaare Zedek Medical Center, said in a statement that Neria Leiter was in “stable” condition but that his life remained at risk.
Mr. Netanyahu visited the hospital shortly before departing for the United Nations General Assembly in New York, his office said in a statement.
Adam Rasgon and Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting.
The post Son of Israeli Ambassador to U.S. Critically Hurt in West Bank Attack, Officials Say appeared first on New York Times.
