Key Takeaways:
- Owen Jones is amplifying a grotesque, evidence-free blood libel based on anonymous claims and discredited, partisan sources.
- The allegation itself is biologically absurd and relies on fabricated “testimony,” exposing a propaganda pipeline rather than credible reporting.
- Media outlets that continue to platform Jones risk legitimizing dangerous antisemitic conspiracies that fuel real-world hatred.
It is among the vilest and most stomach‑churning libels ever cooked up about Israel, which is likely why it is now being spread by one of the vilest of Israel‑haters: the claim that the IDF has trained dogs to rape Palestinians, now being pushed by Owen Jones.
Jones, an extremist Guardian columnist with a long record of promoting vicious and demonstrably false claims about the Jewish state, has now published this sewer‑level fantasy on his personal website, which is filled with all manner of anti‑Israel screeds that showcase his unhinged obsession with the Jewish state.
In his piece, Jones cites Euro‑Med Human Rights Monitor, a grotesquely anti‑Israel outfit that has already been central to pushing this particular libel – among other deranged conspiracy theories – to assert that there is now “overwhelming evidence” of these supposed crimes in Israeli detention centers.
“This is a level of depravity that the vast majority of people would struggle to imagine anyone even thinking up, let alone enacting. And yet the evidence is overwhelming: that the Israeli military is systematically using dogs to rape Palestinian detainees,” Jones writes.
His “evidence” consists of anonymous “Palestinian detainees” – none of whom are identified, and therefore cannot be independently checked – and his false claim that there are also testimonies from “Israeli soldiers.” There are no such testimonies. He simply asserts that they exist and expects readers to take it on faith.
Instead, toward the end of the piece, Jones wheels out Shaiel Ben‑Ephraim, whom he describes as an “Israeli academic and former soldier,” with Ben‑Ephraim claiming to have spoken to soldiers.
Dogs 👏 can’t 👏 be 👏 trained 👏 to 👏 rape.
You know who IS being raped right now? Women in Gaza. By Hamas terrorists who are demanding sex in return for food.
Your amplification of these ridiculous allegations is the real human rights abuse. https://t.co/Ph3TalZyKm https://t.co/70Zr6xBQpc
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) April 18, 2026
Now, just so you know who Ben‑Ephraim is: his “academic” career saw him leave UCLA as a postdoctoral fellow following multiple allegations of sexual harassment, including inviting underage people for drinks and sending minors unsolicited inappropriate photos. This is the man Jones leans on as his “Israeli” authority.
By 2023, Ben‑Ephraim was calling himself a “freelance writer and editor.” Now he has rebranded yet again, this time as a “geopolitical analyst” and “humanitarian activist.” Like Jones, he frequently spreads absurd, hate‑soaked anti‑Israel conspiracy theories.
No soldiers spoke to Ben‑Ephraim. There is no “overwhelming evidence.” There is only propaganda NGOs, unverified anonymous accusations, and a discredited fabulist being packaged as an authority. Ben‑Ephraim is, as he has done so many times, lying. Just as Jones is lying.
HonestReporting has documented, time and again, Jones’s long record of spreading falsehoods about Israel and making revolting claims about sexual violence – from his hideous attempts to cast doubt on the rapes committed during the October 7 massacre, to his previous charge that Israelis are guilty of the “industrial rape” of Palestinians. This latest fabrication, and the gutter‑tier sourcing behind it, should render Jones persona non grata in the UK media world. He should not be invited onto another program, nor should he receive another appearance fee.
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In the last year alone, Jones has appeared on numerous high‑profile platforms – including Piers Morgan Uncensored, LBC, and Jeremy Vine’s Channel 5 show – invited to rail about politics, class dynamics in the UK, and, of course, handed even larger audiences to spew his antisemitic bile.
And the rot goes deeper. The Iranian regime recently promoted comments by Jones claiming that a U.S. war against Tehran would result in the “biggest strategic defeat” for America “since its rise as a superpower.” Upon seeing this, Jones light‑heartedly remarked on X that the regime should have reached out to him for a more recent photograph. This is the same merciless regime that has executed its own people en masse during previous uprisings and is currently handing down death sentences to protesters.
Enough is enough. Owen Jones has moved beyond mere bias or bad judgment. He is a serial spreader of fake news, a promoter of blood libels, and a man whose obsessive hatred of the Jewish state now manifests in the repetition of deranged, pornographic lies. Any media outlet that continues to platform him shares responsibility for the poison he is pumping into public life.
Claims of dog‑rape are not just another wild story in an overcrowded information ecosystem. They help cement the idea that Israelis – and, by extension, Jews – are uniquely sadistic and sub‑human, fueling harassment and even violence against Jewish communities far from any battlefield. They also make it harder to have serious, evidence‑based discussions about genuine misconduct, because the entire discourse is dragged down to the level of deranged fantasy.
We invite readers to complain directly to shows and stations that platform Jones. We encourage them to send producers clear evidence of Jones’ disgusting lies and to spell out the connection between such libels and the very real‑world hate and violence now being directed at British Jews and Jews worldwide. Viewers and listeners should make it clear that channels cannot continue giving a megaphone to someone whose smears are helping fuel that violence, and that any outlet choosing to keep him on air is choosing to be complicit.
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