Italian Journalist Suspended for Ties to Hezbollah

Today’s Top Stories

1. Israel busted Hezbollah terror cells in the West Bank. Members in towns such as Kalkilya were recruited through Facebook by Hezbollah operatives working in Lebanon and Gaza.

2. Following up on Michele Moni — the Italian journalist who duped Israeli political leaders and soldiers into interviews which subsequently appeared on a Hezbollah TV station — YNet columnist Smadar Perry reports that Moni was suspended from his job at Italy’s ANSA News Agency.

I assume that expressions of contrition will not help Moni in his disciplinary hearing. He acted dishonestly. When he requested the interviews (with the aid of an Israeli official with ties to the media), he made two promises: The first was that the interviews would be shown on the BBC and Al-Jazeera. The second was that it would be broadcast on “international media” outlets. It just so happened that politicians, experts, and one IDF major general casually fell into the trap. Who would give up an opportunity to speak to the “international media,” after all?

 

This embarrassing episode is an important lesson in media. I assume the politicians’ spokespeople fell for this trick because Moni used the respected ANSA name. Had they made even a single phone call to the Rome-based news agency’s Jerusalem offices, this fiasco could have been prevented. Nothing would happen to a spokesperson if they insist on finding out whether this interview really was on the up and up (again, it could be done in as little as one phone call). And to be honest, professional spokespeople should have been suspicious when they heard about an alleged cooperation between Al-Jazeera and the BBC.

 

Palestinian TV producer Ahmad Barghouti – who solicited Moni’s services to get the interviews, paid , and started this whole mess – cannot be found. He’s not responding to cell phone calls and has disappeared.

3. In what is believed to be the first time, Russian bombers attacked Islamic State targets in Syria from bases in Iran. Reuters reports:

The move shows Russia is expanding its role and presence in the Middle East and comes amid Russian media reports Moscow has asked Iran and Iraq for permission to fire cruise missiles at Syrian targets across their territory from the Caspian Sea.

4. Guest Commentary: Does Israeli Media Need to Be Saved?  While there are valid concerns about the state of Israeli media, do we need to save it from being shredded by Israeli politicians? See this special guest post by Gavin Gross, a member of HonestReporting’s Israeli amutah (non-profit governing committee).

Israel and the Palestinians

• Facebook closes down the account of Hamas leader Ismail Radwan in what looks like a Facebook clampdown campaign against incitement. The Jerusalem Post explains:

Just last week Facebook closed the accounts of Hamas leader Salah Bardawail and Islamic Jihad leader Khaled al-Batsh. Facebook also closed in July the accounts of the deputy chairman of the Hamas politburo Musa Abu Marzouk, Hamas leader Ezzat al-Rishq (who is Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal’s confidante), as well as a number of Hamas student leaders.

 

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassim responded to the account closures, telling Ma’an, a Palestinian news agency, that they amount to an Israeli terror operation against social media platforms.

• New mall for settlers and Palestinians opens in Gush Etzion

• This tweet from the Associated Press sums up the latest from Rio. ‘Nuff said.

BREAKING: Olympic officials say Egyptian judo athlete reprimanded, sent home after refusing to shake Israeli opponent's hand.

— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) August 15, 2016

Around the World

• AFP: Malaysia relinquished the right to host the 2017 FIFA Congress, rather than issue the necessary travel visas to Israeli delegates.

• Black church group in Missouri condemned Black Lives Matter’s statement on Israel. The JTA has the backstory on this notable statement published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Commentary/Analysis

• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .

– Bret Stephens: Anti-Semitism and the meaning of an Olympic snub (via Google News)
– Michael Herzog: The world needs to work to prevent the next war in Gaza
– Amb. Alan Baker: Ten false assumptions regarding Israel
– Judith Bergman: Europe could learn a lot from Israel
– Nadav Eyal: We’re not interesting anymore
– Alan Dershowitz: Black Lives Matter must rescind anti-Israel declaration

Featured image: CC BY-NC Nicolas Alejandro with additions by HonestReporting;

For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.

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