“Three Young Jewish Settlers”

To most Israelis (not withstanding certain Israeli-Arab MKs) and Jews, Naftali Fraenkel, Gil­-ad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach are our own children. It matters not where they studied, their level of religiosity, their political views or where they lived.

But for some in the media, the defining element is the three teens’ connection to “settlements” that appears to be more important than the human element of the story.

For a media obsessed with the perceived centrality of settlements to the entire conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, portraying Fraenkel, Shaar and Yifrach as “settlers” comfortably fits their framework. If the three teens are settlers then, ergo, they shouldn’t have been anywhere near the area from which they were taken.

Read the full article by HonestReporting Managing Editor Simon Plosker at The Times of Israel.