Recently, Israel’s media has been shifting its presentation of the Arab Palestinians and the conflict in Gaza. After October 7, nearly everyone condemned Hamas and the Palestinians who assisted them in massacring innocent civilians. People compared the events to a modern-day Holocaust. Israel was in shock, as were those in the world who supported them.
But in the last couple of months, the media viewpoint is changing:
For most of the past two years, television stations in Israel have paid little attention to suffering in Gaza, giving viewers a steady stream of stories about Israeli heroism, the agony of hostages’ families and the deaths of soldiers in combat.
But that is changing. In recent months, some Israeli stations have begun to share graphic images of malnourished children and a few deeply reported stories about the difficulties of daily life for Palestinians.
Some might argue that this shift is a campaign in self-awareness, that Israel is starting to emerge from an insular and isolated perspective, finally acknowledging their role in a “genocide” of innocents.
But this is completely ludicrous. One difficulty with this position is that the “graphic images” mentioned above were exposed as photographs of children who were already ill from other conditions. Or, think about the little eight-year-old boy who was reportedly “gunned down” by the IDF...who turned out to be very much alive with his mother after being safely extracted (presumably by the IDF).
The political left in Israel is as prominent among journalists as in any other part of the world. An indication that Israelis are being fed propaganda is how casualties are being depicted and the sources that they rely on:
The offensive has killed over 64,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. Its figures are seen as reliable by U.N. agencies and many independent experts. Israel disputes the figures but has not provided its own.
Are the Israelis unable to collect their own information? Part of the problem is getting access to reliable data: what kind of credible news agency trusts numbers from Hamas?
But, the Arab Palestinians have their champions amongst the Israeli media, and they are now given quite a platform:
‘I want to say something we are not used to hearing in Israeli television studios: The war in Gaza is killing a large number of people in Gaza, Palestinians,’ Ms. Elbaz-Phelps said.
The hosts of the show on Channel 13 tried to interrupt her.
She then countered: ‘These are things that are difficult to say in Israeli studios, but it’s important to say them. … It’s hard not to be shocked by the images we are seeing out of Gaza, and they are another reason the war has to end.’
But when the Israeli population is surveyed, they don’t reflect this leftist view. They are still distraught about October 7, about the hundreds of people killed and tortured, about their sons and daughters dying as they fight with the IDF, about the dead and dying hostages:
A survey in June by a center at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem found 64% of Israelis think Israeli media coverage has been balanced and do not see the necessity of reporting more closely on the situation of Gaza civilians.
These recent reports follow a study that has come out from the Begin-Sadat Center in Israel that corrects the misrepresentations and distortions that Hamas has promoted. It sets the record straight, overwhelmingly, in Israel’s favor.
So why is this shift occurring in the media? Are they caving in to international pressure? Are they allowing their media colleagues on the global left to unduly influence them?
Let’s hope Israelis don’t fall prey to their own leftist propagandists. It will only create more division in a country that is struggling with the decision of whether to make the hostages a priority, or focus on eliminating Hamas. Media campaigns appealing to emotion will not help.
Image: Free image, Pixabay license.