Gaza Border Coverage: The Blame Game

Israel undoubtedly took a substantial hit in much of the media as a result of the recent Gaza border violence. Questions are now being asked as to why it appears that Israel was unable to effectively tell its side of the story to the journalists on the ground and editors in the newsrooms around the globe.

We know from our own bitter experience that some media outlets will almost always run with the Palestinian narrative and perhaps no amount of explanation on the part of Israeli officials will turn this around.

Nonetheless, the Jerusalem Post’s editor Yaakov Katz was highly critical of the IDF’s handling of the public relations effort. The Times of Israel also surveyed whether the PR battle was unwinnable or just mismanaged.

On the other hand, there is still plenty of blame laid at the door of the media themselves. Danny Seaman, the former director of Israel’s Government Press Office argues that years of biased Mideast coverage has damaged media credibility to the point that it is indeed vulnerable to accusations of “fake news.”

The media is a key tool – often a willing accomplice – to this strategy. The manipulation of the rhetoric by human rights groups is all too often typeset in the media, and thus chiseled into history. Massacres are proclaimed where there have been none; terrorists cowering behind civilians remain hidden from the public eye.

The foreign media has been reporting on the conflict here for over 50 years. They should, in the very least, maintain a measure of caution when reporting on events. If only because of the numerous examples of reports over the years on atrocities and abuses supposedly carried out by Israelis that eventually were exposed as false . . .

The epidemic of fake news started with the media failure to uphold professional standards of journalism in covering the conflict here. The Cradle of Religions is also the Cradle of “Fake News”.

A number of Israeli and US officials went on the offensive, denouncing the Western media for buying into Hamas lies. The IDF’s chief spokesman, Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis, got op-ed space in the Wall St. Journal (click via Twitter) to weigh in on Hamas lies:

Hamas can lie—to the world, to Palestinians and to their own commanders and operatives—but I am proud that the IDF will never lie or use Israeli civilians or soldiers as pawns. Some of Israel’s greatest friends might have preferred that we had looked better in the media this past week, but between vanity and truth, the IDF always chooses truth. It is that morality that sustains the IDF. The uniformed professional soldiers of the IDF may not photograph well compared with terrorists disguised as civilians—but we are honest about what we are and what we say. As the IDF spokesman, if I cannot source and cite material, I will not allow it to be published. I will not release any statement if the facts are in doubt.

Some in the media helped Hamas by publishing its lies rather than the facts. Hamas achieved negative media coverage about Israel after their first violent riot, on March 30, the first day of this propaganda operation. Hamas could have then claimed a propaganda victory, stopped the violence, and prevented many deaths. But for Hamas, lies are more important than lives.

If in order to win the international propaganda war I need to lie like Hamas, then I prefer to tell the truth and lose. The IDF will win where it matters—protecting our civilians in the face of terror. The soldiers of the IDF won this week by keeping Israeli families safe and by stopping Hamas from accomplishing its stated goals.

In the Washington Post, Israeli Ambassador to the US, Ron Dermer called on the media and the world to stop demonizing Israel for defending itself:

Most of those in the media who constantly target Israel will probably not give a second thought to the damage they have caused.

But they should. Because while they cause damage to my country’s reputation, they actually cost Palestinian lives. By proving to Hamas that the media can be manipulated time after time, the media is only encouraging Hamas to continue to employ this ghoulish strategy.

How to keep this from happening again? Hamas could stop being Hamas. But that is unlikely to happen.

Israel could stop defending itself. But that will never happen. As has been said: Better bad press than a good eulogy.

But there is another way to put an end to this despicable practice: The media can stop demonizing Israel for defending itself. By not giving Hamas the PR victory it seeks, the media would actually be doing something to save innocent Palestinian lives rather than being complicit in their tragic deaths.

And US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, opined on Fox News that “the liberal media sides with Hamas over Trump”:

The next day, the liberal media vilified everyone associated with the embassy move and glorified the poor Hamas terrorists. Failed diplomats who never brought peace or stability to the region were pulled out of mothballs to regurgitate their calcified thinking. And the most deranged even accused the administration of having blood on its hands.  Tellingly, not a single pundit offered a less-lethal alternative to protecting Israel from being overrun by killers or its soldiers from being within range of pistols, IEDs or Molotov cocktails.

Let there be no mistake. Every life is equally precious, whether Jewish, Palestinian or other. But no nation should ever be called upon to sacrifice its own citizens to preserve the lives of aggressive infiltrators intent on murder and mayhem.

Ironically, Hamas had recently woken up to the fact that most responsible journalists were on to its game and Hamas was considering ending its suicidal assaults on the Israeli border. But seeing the opportunity to curry the front page or the A Block from reporters willing to shed a negative light on our president, Hamas enthusiastically launched its youth back into the fire. So who really has blood on their hands?

Holding the Media to Account

At HonestReporting, we have seen many crises over the years where biased media coverage has seriously impacted Israel along with significant consequences for Jewish communities around the world.

While our job is to hold the media to account for their reporting on Israel, we are also acutely aware of the issues surrounding “official” Israel’s efforts, not all of them successful, to tell its story to an often cynical audience of journalists.

Over the past few weeks, HonestReporting has published materials, including roundups, primers, videos and more, to give you, our readership, the tools to be able to better respond to the enormous volume of biased coverage that we have witnessed during this period.

We thank you for your own efforts in holding the media to account.