‘Completely Unacceptable!’ Jake Tapper Condemns Detention of CNN Crew in Israel — As Correspondent Tells Him IDF Troops Reacted ‘Quite Violently’

CNN correspondent Jeremy Diamond shared more details on Sunday about what happened a day earlier, when his camera man was assaulted and his crew was detained for two hours by Israeli Defense Forces troops while reporting on Israeli settlers who had “violently attacked” Palestinians in the West Bank.

Diamond joined Jake Tapper on State of the Union to tell him about the incident. He said things “immediately escalated” just minutes after CNN arrived in the Palestinian village of Tayasir, where he said settlers had violated Israeli law by attacking Palestinians.

The IDF troops reacted “quite violently” to CNN being there and put photojournalist Cyril Theophilos in a chokehold, Diamond said. He reported everyone in the crew is doing well on Sunday, but the episode gave him insight into how some IDF troops view the settler issue.

Here was Diamond’s take:

What was remarkable was not only the fact that the soldiers were only taking action against us and the Palestinians in the area — and not against those settlers who established this outpost that’s illegal under Israeli law as well — but also the conversations that I had with some of those soldiers during our detention were quite revealing, showing the way in which these soldiers see themselves as participants in this settler movement.

One of them acknowledged to me that that outpost was illegal under international under Israeli law, but he said “One day, it will be legal.”

And that’s the pattern. The Israeli settler playbook — to create facts on the ground and then get this right-wing government in Israel to legalize those settlements under Israeli law.

Diamond reported a moment later there has been a “huge increase” in settler violence since Hamas terrorists broke into Israel and killed about 1,200 people on October 7, 2023. He said that has spiked recently, with 7 people being killed by settlers since the start of the war against Iran — or “nearly” as many as were killed in 2025. His figures were based on the Palestinian Health Ministry, Diamond said.

“It just gives you a sense of how out of control this Israeli violence is now getting in the West Bank,” Diamond added.

Tapper closed the segment by complimenting Diamond and his crew on their “brave” reporting.

“Completely unacceptable!” Tapper said, “What happened to you, and what’s going on in the West Bank.”

Watch above via CNN.

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