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CAMERA: ‘Israel is not the enemy, reporters should check their facts’
There has been a sharp rise in misinformation in reporting about Israel in the international media, according to Adam Levick, director of the public diplomacy (hasbara) organization CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis).
“Lately, we have seen a sharp rose in misinformation and biased reporting against Israel,” Levick told Maariv, The Jerusalem Post‘s sister publication.
“Journalism is important, but journalists know that they need to stick to the facts, so they have to be careful how they report,” noted Levick. “When it comes to the BBC, for example, for the past 12 years, they have been publishing articles against Israel, and BBC Arabic has even celebrated Hamas’s actions against us.”
He also noted that the British newspaper The Guardian is also biased against Israel.“Time after time, they write as if we are the bad guys.”
Where does the misinformation come from?
According to him, some of the reporting come from a lack of knowledge or misunderstanding of the facts, caused by, among other things, certain op-eds being published in Israel.
Levick cited the example of an article published in The Guardian comparing Gaza to an concentration camp. He explained that when the newspaper was contacted about the article, it was said that “the information written in the article was published in an opinion column a few years ago in Haaretz by a senior reporter.”
“We must be careful about how things are presented in the media,” he noted.
On the issue of whether to throw Al Jazeera reporters out of Israel, he said: “I believe in freedom of the press, yes there is a precedence for throwing the press out of the country, but I don’t think it’s good. We must put their words in the context of hasbara and continue to show that they are wrong.”
Christina Jones, a non-Jewish woman who works for CAMERA as a campus manager, said: “My family has a deep connection with Israel, one of my brother’s friends was killed at the Supernova music festival and the images and stories from the massacre are shocking.”
According to her, she has never seen such antisemitism in universities as she is right now.
“What we see right now on campuses in the US, we may soon also see in the UK and in other parts of the world. Students are afraid,” she says, adding that even in Scotland, where she lives, there are serious problems.
“The Scottish are considered to be under English occupation, so there is a lot of support for the Palestinian people. The fact that the first minister of Scotland is also Palestinian and calls for collective punishment in both nations doesn’t bode well for the situation,” she added.
“It is important to understand that we need to work together so that the international media reports objectively,” Levick said.
“I call on the reporters of the world: Report objectively and check your facts before publishing. This is important for Israeli public diplomacy. It is important to show that Israel is not the enemy.”
Israel’s political echelon, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has ordered the IDF to prepare for an “immediate” return to fighting in Gaza, KAN News reported on Friday evening.
The Jerusalem Post reported earlier this week that Israeli officials estimated that if no agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas, Israel would return to fighting in Gaza in about a week and a half.
“Hamas is currently rejecting [US Middle East envoy Steve] Witkoff’s proposal, so it is very difficult to make progress,” one official said.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Witkoff’s plan involves the release of half of the living hostages and the return of half of the bodies on the first day of the continued deal. The rest of the hostages and bodies would be returned on the 42nd day, which would be the final day of the ceasefire.However, some claim that the terrorist organization has not rejected the proposal. According to a source familiar with the negotiations, “Hamas has neither accepted nor rejected the Witkoff proposal.”
Eyal Zamir to Gaza border community heads: We’re preparing to fight
On his first day as the new IDF chief of staff on Thursday, Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir told heads of local councils from the Gaza border communities that “we are preparing to return to fighting” in Gaza.
“We must defeat Hamas,” Zamir said. “We are also preparing to resume fighting. The hostages are our top priority.”
Amichai Stein contributed to this report.
Negotiations over the continued release of hostages held in Gaza have stalled, and “right now there is nothing happening,” sources familiar with details of the talks admitted in conversation with The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
“Right now, there’s nothing happening,” an Israeli official told the Post, adding that “Hamas is currently rejecting the Witkoff proposal, so it is very difficult to make progress.”
According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, the Witkoff plan involves the release of half of the living hostages and the return of half of the bodies on the first day of the deal. The second half of the hostages and bodies would be returned on the 42nd day, which would be the final day of the ceasefire.
On the other hand, some claim that Hamas has not rejected the proposal. “Hamas has neither accepted nor rejected the Witkoff proposal,” said a source with knowledge of the negotiations with the Post.“Hamas has said it is willing to negotiate and has not rejected the plan. Since Israel currently states that this is the proposal on the table, from Israel’s perspective, Hamas has rejected it.”
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff not expected to visit Israel soon, source says
An Israeli source told the Post that there is no expectation for Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, to visit the region at the moment, adding, “He will only come to finalize a deal. And since there is no real progress right now, it is unclear when or if he will arrive.”
Without an agreement on the release of additional hostages in the coming days, Israeli sources say Israel is preparing to escalate its actions against Hamas. After the decision on Sunday to stop humanitarian aid, Israel is preparing to cut off water and electricity to the Gaza Strip, as well as resume fighting – some say this might happen, without a deal, as early as next week.
Israeli officials suggest that even without accepting the Witkoff initiative, Hamas might agree to release additional hostages in the near future in exchange for the release of terrorists from prison and the entry of caravans and humanitarian aid, but they add that this also depends on other issues.
“The Israeli government needs to decide what will be negotiated with Hamas and what they will receive in exchange for the release of hostages in the coming weeks,” said an Israeli source. “Hamas’s agreement to release more hostages depends on the answers to these questions.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Monday that Israel responded to the mediators’ request to allow a few more days of negotiations. Katz added,d “If Hamas does not release the hostages soon, the gates of Gaza will be locked and the gates of hell will be opened – we will return to fighting, and they will face the IDF with forces and methods they have never encountered before.”
Israeli officials suggest that even without accepting the Witkoff initiative, Hamas might agree to release additional hostages in the near future in exchange for the release of terrorists from prison and the entry of caravans and humanitarian aid, but they add that this also depends on other issues. “The Israeli government needs to decide what will be negotiated with Hamas and what they will receive in exchange for the release of hostages in the coming weeks,” said an Israeli source. “Hamas’s agreement to release more hostages depends on the answers to these questions.”
No progress has been made in the ceasefire talks in Cairo, and Israel is reaching a dead end, a source familiar with the details of the negotiations told The Jerusalem Post Saturday.
There were lots of technical discussions but no results, the source added.
Israel and mediating countries believe that only the Trump administration can perhaps break the talks out of the impasse.
“When [US Middle East envoy Steve] Witkoff arrives, things may happen. Everyone is waiting for him,” the source said.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene a meeting on the hostage deal in the next several hours with senior officials and the negotiation team, an Israeli official told the Post.
Hamas refusing Israeli proposal to extend phase one of deal
Hamas is refusing the idea of extending the first phase of the deal, Israeli officials said.
The Israeli and Qatari delegations arrived in Cairo on Thursday. The delegation is led by Coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing Persons, Brig.-Gen. (Res.) Gal Hirsch, as well as “M,” an anonymous officer from the Shin Bet. M is the former deputy of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, who is reportedly no longer part of the hostage deal negotiating team.
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