Israel had plenty of intense moments in 2018, with Gaza border riots, air strikes on Syria, the discovery of Hezbollah tunnels, embassies opening in Jerusalem, an entire warehouse of nuclear documents stolen from Tehran and an ongoing investigation into alleged corruption by Israel’s own Prime Minister.
We cheered for Netta Barzilai, mourned the victims of Palestinian terror attacks and the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre and watched with frustration as antisemitism festered in the British Labour Party. Snap elections announced at the end of the year surprised nobody.
So as we wrap up 2018, it’s worth looking back on our 10 most-read posts. What do these articles say about the year that was?
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
1. The violence
When the first clashes broke out along the Gaza border in April, we cleared the fog of fumbled news coverage. As the violence played out over the year, it became even clearer that the so-called spontaneous March of Return protest was neither “spontaneous” nor a “march,” nor a “protest.” Myths and Facts: Gaza’s Deadly “Protests” was far and away our most-read post of 2018. The myths and facts format identified issues we saw come up again and again.
Coverage of the clashes touched a deeper nerve in readers. Four other Gaza critiques cracked the top 10.
– Does the Media Really Understand the Gaza Violence? (no. 2)
– Gaza Border Coverage: Shame on the Media (no.4)
– The Gaza Clashes: What’s Really Happening (no. 6)
– Exposed: More Palestinian ‘Victims’ Identified as Terror Org Members (no. 9)
2. The enfant terrible
Of all the people BBC News chose to quote for an Israeli point of view on the trial of Ahed Tamimi (more on her in the next item), Mideast editor Jeremy Bowen went for Oren Hazan, a firebrand Knesset member known for picking fights with Arabs, women and the disabled — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Hazan’s provocative and embarrassing comments provided the BBC with fireworks but didn’t reflect mainstream Israeli views.
The post seemed to write itself (always a good sign) and I believe the headline “BBC News Kicks Israel in the Face” grabbed readers who love to hate the BBC. (This ranked no. 3.)
3. The glamour girl
Ahed Tamimi was imprisoned for slapping an Israeli soldier and trying to provoke him as her mother filmed the stunt. She left jail and became a Palestinian icon, so much so that Vogue-Arabia sent a photographer to shoot a portrait to accompany a letter the teenager wrote.
As my colleague, Daniel Pomerantz, shared his insights into the nature of glamour photography, I came to see the image as an allegory for the fantasy which the opportunistic Tamimi family is trying to create about their daughter and the Palestinians. Vogue Can’t Glamourize Terror explains how the photo was made and the effect it created. (No. 5)
4. The military ops
Dramatic military operations never fail to boost traffic to the Israel Daily News Stream, our daily news roundup. The common denominator was the immediacy and urgency.
– Putin Phone Call Ended Israeli Air Strikes (no. 7)
– Israeli Air Force Retaliates for Gaza’s Flaming Kites (no. 8)
5. The threat
The Israeli-Syrian border heated up in February when an Iranian drone crossed into Israeli air space and was shot down. Israel retaliated with air strikes on Iranian targets, becoming the first time Israel and Iran were in direct confrontation. An Israeli F-16 went down, the first time the Air Force lost a jet in combat since 1982.
Headlines matter, but we spotted a lot of headline fails lacking context or basic information. If all you knew about the incident was from scrolling through headlines in your Twitter, you’d think Iran Attack: It All Started When Israel Fired Back. (no. 10)
These are just 10 of our posts from 2018, the ones you read, discussed and shared the most. Thank you for making our work possible. Thank you for making it matter.
Images: Palestinian freevector.com and Flash90/Sliman Khader, with modifications; Oren Hazan by Hadas Parush/Fash90; F-16 jet courtesy IDF Spokesperson’s Unit with modifications by HonestReporting;
