Key Takeaways:
- The Civil Commission published a 300-page report on the sexual violence committed against Israelis on October 7, using testimonies, videos, and photos to gather evidence.
- In covering the report, AP entirely diminished and cast doubt on the atrocities that occurred, while highlighting accusations made against Israel.
- Downplaying such atrocities undermines the gravity of the documented crimes and intentionally shifts the attention away from the victims.
Sexual violence on October 7 was unmistakable.
The livestreaming of such horrific crimes should have made denying them or undermining them impossible.
New witness testimonies and evidence released in The Civil Commission’s 300-page study, Silenced No More, detail the extent of the atrocities committed on October 7.
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Yet in the Associated Press’ (AP) report on The Civil Commission’s study, the news agency does its very best to cast doubt on the findings, rather than confront the evidence presented.
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How does @AP report on the 300-page study proving systematic sexual and gender-based violence during the Oct 7 attacks and in Hamas captivity?By laundering doubt about Israeli victims while treating accusations against Israel far more credulously. ? pic.twitter.com/EEejL9aamg
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 13, 2026
Within the first few paragraphs of its report, AP detours from the witness accounts of sexual violence to claim sexual violence itself has been “heavily politicized since the war in Gaza began.”
There is nothing political about what happened to women, children, and men on October 7, and honestly documenting the atrocities perpetrated against them is not politicization. Rather, it is an exercise in immorality and political perversion to read extensive testimony and evidence documenting sexual violence and immediately search for ways to discredit it.
October 7 was a gruesome day of recorded violence, targeting innocent civilians. By comparing confirmed brutality with a supposed “competing narrative,” AP turns a conversation about sexual violence committed against Israelis into an application of political equivalence.
The Civil Commission reviewed more than 10,000 photographs and video segments, 1,800 hours of materials, and accumulated over 430 testimonies, including interviews with a range of subjects.
AP dials this all down to being unable to “independently verify” the report’s findings, and noting that critics have “challenged” previous work by the chair of the commission.
This is not a one-time occurrence with AP, but a pattern that has emerged throughout the war of subtly working to delegitimize Israeli statements, while never applying the same scrutiny to statements provided by Hamas.
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AP inserts caveats designed to muddy the waters even before presenting its findings.“The report’s findings could not be independently verified…”
“Critics have challenged some of Elkayam-Levy’s previous research…”
To be clear, AP never seems to apply this standard to… pic.twitter.com/0CNdnQWcG5
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 13, 2026
The report is not an easy read. Nor should it be. But it is the media’s responsibility to report on it thoroughly and clearly, highlighting the extent of the atrocities rather than diminishing them or redirecting attention away from them.
Throughout its coverage, AP repeatedly loses focus on the report itself, pivoting instead toward accusations against Israel or Israeli soldiers. In doing so, AP trivializes the documented crimes committed against Israelis on October 7.
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Rather than focusing on the 430 interviews and 10,000 photos documenting Hamas’ brutality, AP pivots to allegations against Israeli soldiers. pic.twitter.com/y543kgLMeQ— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 13, 2026
This is not an accidental shift in focus, but a pattern that seeks to minimize how readers understand the atrocities committed that day. Rather than allowing the evidence and testimonies surrounding the victims to remain central, the framing repeatedly redirects attention elsewhere.
For instance, a case involving assertions against Israeli soldiers is presented without clearly explaining that the allegations were disputed, and the evidence itself contested. This case was used to draw a false moral comparison, yet the most critical details are omitted.
Presenting a disputed case with limited evidence apparently proved easier for AP than fully confronting the overwhelming body of evidence and testimony surrounding Israeli victims on October 7.
Concrete evidence against Hamas and other Gazans is described as “alleged“ or “politicized“ while accusations directed at Israel are never described with such qualifying terminology.
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Notice the language choices.Israel “says” Hamas committed atrocities.
Israel “accuses” the international community of ignoring evidence.
Evidence is described as “alleged” or “politicized.”
But accusations against Israel are often presented with far less scrutiny and far…
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 13, 2026
The imbalance is difficult to ignore.
When Israeli victims bravely come forward, and the evidence is presented, AP becomes skeptical, creating the impression that the credibility of the evidence is judged not only by its substance, but by who the victims are.
There are 300 pages full of evidence of the extent of the terror, pain, and sexual violence that Israelis were subjected to on October 7.
The new evidence presented creates an even more devastating picture than what was previously known.
AP should read it all. And only then report back on what was done to innocent people, rather than turning documented atrocities into exercises in moral equivalence.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
