The Ring of Fire Surrounding Israel is Closing In - Israel Must Pass Through Info War Roadblocks to Extinguish It.
April 5, 2024 - Issue #47
Despite everything happening on the ground, it is the war of words, images and video that worries me most. It is a war being waged by civilians wielding computers and smartphones, automated bots amplifying nonsense, and trolls spoiling for a confrontation. In aggregate, they promote events true and false, often without context, and frequently skewed by their anti-Israel agenda. But worrisome as it is that a majority of Generation Z and Millennials garner much of their information from social media platforms supplied with information from those civilian and automated digital warriors, traditional media’s complicity concerns me too because it magnifies and consecrates the massive influx of poorly vetted social media information designed for political and emotional impact.
And further one might wonder, why is there such disproportionate coverage of Israel over all else in the world? Perhaps Israel’s response to Hamas’ October 7 terror invasion is the biggest story today. And yes, the tragedies Israelis and Gazans have experienced and continue to experience are awful. But there are many wars going on in the world that do not involve Israel and are even more appalling. Russia’s massive onslaught into Ukraine is one of them. And the ongoing conflagration in Sudan is perhaps the worst in terms of the millions displaced, ongoing rape, and the potential for a far greater death count than the present 12,000. There, twenty years ago, was a true genocide when 300,000 died due to Arab terror. Today, that could happen again. In Myanmar (Burma), 2.5 million people have been displaced following the hundreds of thousands expelled in 2017. Only two years ago, another brutal war, this time in Ethiopia ended after hundreds of thousands died and untold more were cut off from food. Today, Haiti is a nightmare of gang violence causing many to leave their homes but unable to escape sexual violence and other horrors. There, more than two million presently need “lifesaving aid.” In the Sahel and Armenia-Azerbaijan violence lurks as well. Where is the outrage for the perpetrators of the massacres and terror in those wars? Where are the protestors?
Yet Israel, and it’s supposed perfidy, is the focus of the world and the stirred up anger in the streets, almost as if it is was the only epicenter of violence. If the media’s focus was on Hamas’ terror machinations, its totalitarian control of Gazans, its throwing of hostages in underground dungeons—perhaps I could understand. Perhaps, like with ISIS, its conduct would then be considered so shocking that the international media would teach the world about evil by critically examining Hamas’ leadership, disclose its actions in gruesome detail, and cast disdain on its supporters such as Iran and Hezbollah. But that is not what is happening. Israel is castigated and Hamas’ role receives lip service at best.
Why?
Matti Friedman shed some light on “why” in two articles he wrote a decade ago for Atlantic magazine and then Tablet. Friedman was a reporter and editor for the Jerusalem Bureau of the Associated Press (AP) in Jerusalem between 2006-2011. He is also the author of several celebrated books related to Israeli or Jewish history. Born in Canada, he has lived in Israel since 1995, served with the IDF in Lebanon shortly after his arrival, and reported on Israel since 1997. Friedman makes clear that he believes “in the importance of ‘mainstream media’, [is] a liberal, and a critic of many of [Israel’s] policies. However, he also makes clear that crucial to understanding why Israel’s wars are covered as they are is recognizing “the resurgence of an old, twisted pattern of thought and its migration from the margins to the mainstream of Western discourse—namely, a hostile obsession with Jews.” To do that, it is important to understand how and why those views have percolated among journalists who Friedman thought then were decent and respectable people.
It starts with a central trope among correspondents in Israel that consists of a negative narrative about the Jewish state that is “largely fiction,” and shaped by Israel’s enemies.
When Friedman worked for the AP, he was one of forty staffers covering Israel and the Palestinian territories. This was more than the AP had in China, Russia, or India—countries many times more powerful, populated, and impactful than Israel. Also, more than all fifty sub-Saharan African countries combined, and more than in all the countries where the Arab Spring later developed. However, Friedman did not single out the AP for this concentration of resources. He said the AP was no different than the other major news organizations.
But important for this story is the realization that with so many reporters in Israel, they must generate stories to justify their presence. This, even though the death toll there was small in comparison to elsewhere. In 2013, Friedman says, the Palestinian conflict caused 42 deaths—about the same number that died monthly in Chicago during that period. Jerusalem had less deaths per capita than then safe Portland, Oregon. For further comparison, the Syrian civil war cost 190,000 lives over three years, the Arab-Israeli conflict over the 100 years ending in 2014 caused 70,000 deaths. Yet the news industry focused on Israel while neglecting travesties occurring elsewhere like in Pakistan where in 2013, 1600 women were murdered—many for reasons of honor, more than 2000 were tortured, and 217 were raped before their deaths. Meanwhile, five million died due to war in the Congo over a decade and a half. Yet, journalism about Israel’s conflicts and conduct outpaced all on a regular basis with few exceptions.
Why is this?
Friedman explains that reporters in Israel learn quickly what their editors want. Not coverage of failures in Palestinian society, in-depth discussions of terrorist groups, or critiques of Palestinian governance. No studies of NGO’s whose purpose is to attack Israel behind the shroud of false impartiality (not surprising because NGO employees and reporters enjoy a vigorous social scene at various watering holes where the common denominator is anti-Israel bias). Friedman counted written stories published by the AP during the seven weeks between Nov. 8 and Dec. 15, 2011 that criticized Israeli society—there were 27. That was more than the number of critical stories about the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, and Palestinian society over the preceding three years! This happens, Friedman said, because “Palestinians are not taken seriously as agents of their own fate.” This imbalance perhaps rightfully, depending on your view, results in extensive reporting on things like construction of 100 new settler homes on the West Bank while wrongfully and dangerously ignoring Hamas smuggling 100 new missiles into Gaza.
Then, referring to a war in 2014 but with earie premonition, Friedman wrote, “An observer might think Hamas’ decision in recent years to construct a military infrastructure beneath Gaza’s civilian infrastructure would be deemed newsworthy, if only because of what it meant about the way the next conflict would be fought and the cost to innocent people. But that is not the case. The Hamas emplacements were not important in themselves and were therefore ignored. What was important was the Israeli decision to attack them.”
Then, Friedman highlighted Hamas’s intimidation. Reporters in Gaza only report about violence directed at Palestinians by Israelis. That, to them, is the Israel story. But they fail to mention Hamas violence directed at their own citizenry. No wonder because reporters in Palestinian areas, especially Gaza, are at risk of Hamas retribution, usually do not speak Arab fluently, and are dependent on fixers that support or fear Hamas, or both.
Friedman tells of two events that he had knowledge of. The first was of AP staff witnessing Hamas rocket launches outside its offices in Gaza but not reporting they were fired from civilian areas. The second was when cameramen outside Shifa hospital filmed the arrival of civilians casualties but were prevented by Hamas from filming the arrival of Hamas operative casualties so as to create the illusion that only civilians were dying.
Then, Friedman discusses framing of the story—usually with words that refer to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or something similar. This framing creates the perception that the Jews are the stronger party even though they are a tiny minority in the Middle East because Israel is mentioned first, Palestinians second, and the fact that Palestinians are part of ethnic and religious groups that far exceed in orders of magnitude the Jews of Israel is whitewashed out of the reader’s consciousness. Yes, words do matter. They can create subliminal impressions that become part of the narrative through which events are viewed. And further, calling it the “Israel-Palestinian conflict” creates the impression that if only the Palestinian problem is solved Israel’s and the Middle East’s troubles will be over. This ignores the true problem assailing the Middle East—radical Islam—in both its Sunni and Shiite forms, that takes advantage of minorities like the Yazidis or Christians or sometimes the Kurds when they are unable to organize to defend themselves as thankfully the Israelis have.
Meanwhile, Hamas’ strategy in 2014 according to Friedman was clear. It is “to provoke a response from Israel by attacking from behind the cover of Palestinian civilians, thus drawing Israeli strikes that kill those civilians, and then to have the casualties filmed by one of the world’s largest press contingents, with the understanding that the resulting outrage abroad will blunt Israel’s response. This is a ruthless strategy, and an effective one. It is predicated on the cooperation of journalists.” And it is no different today.
Similarly, Hamas learned in 2014 that it could use its Hamas controlled Gaza Health Ministry to report death tolls that reporters would feature uncritically in their press coverage. A decade later the same is true.
As a result, Friedman opined, “The Western press has become less an observer of this conflict than an actor in it, a role with consequences for the millions of people trying to comprehend current events, including policymakers who depend on journalistic accounts to understand a region where they consistently seek, and fail, to productively intervene.”
I think Friedman is clearly correct. Even more so because just a few days ago came news of the callousness of so-called media experts. Shani Louk was a young Israeli girl, possibly raped, who was then murdered and dragged off into Gaza in the back of a pickup truck. Here, she is in the full bloom of her life.
On October 7, Freelancer, Ali Mahmud, affiliated with the AP in some manner, took the following picture that was captioned at least in part, “Heavy airstrikes on the enclave has killed thousands of Palestinians [My comment - certainly not on or in the days leading up to October 7]. Palestinian militants [My comment - terrorists would seem a much more appropriate word choice] drive back to the Gaza Strip with the body of Shani Louk, a German-Israeli dual citizen, during their cross-border attack on Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.” Before you view the picture, I want you to know I thought long and hard whether or not to show AP’s image or replace it with one blurring Louk’s body. However, because the original image can be found all over social media and on the internet, I decided that the true image was important to picture because it is visual proof the AP has not changed since Friedman wrote about it in 2014.
Let’s leave aside the controversy surrounding Mahmud that includes questions regarding how and why he was there and whether he was a member of Hamas because I want to highlight what happened last week. The Donald W. Reynolds Institute at the Missouri school of Journalism issued the image its prestigious first place award as part of the “Team Picture of the Year” category which AP won. My beef is not with printing the image, but in glorifying it with an award, especially when it may have been taken by someone, wittingly or not, involved in helping Hamas glorify the terror.
Thus, it should be no surprise to anyone that the old observation that Friedman alluded to in his articles is as much true today as it has been for decades, “No Jews, no news.” And, what the mainstream media has been doing is dangerous because it contributes to a false narrative through which the world interprets events. This is the parallel war that Israel is fighting and in which we must participate.
Now, to the events of the last few days. It is plain to see that things are coming to a head:
Hostages - Hamas has refused Israel’s most recent offer to release up to 800 terrorist prisoners in return for release of forty hostages. Instead, Hamas insists that Israel agree to a permanent ceasefire, allow Gazans to return to northern Gaza, and that the IDF withdraw from Gaza. In other words, total Israeli abdication.
This will not happen. Israel will not agree to any conditions that permit Hamas to regain control of Gaza.
But the number “forty” is interesting and frightening. I am aware of some reports that of the 134 hostages still remaining, about 60 are no longer alive, leaving 74 who might still be breathing. Of them, Hamas may only have control of 45. The remainder are in other hands and possibly not in Hamas’ control. Could that be why Hamas remains stuck on the number forty? Any more freed and Hamas might be left with no hostages or have to admit that it cannot ensure delivery of the remainder.Rafah – As I write this, news media are reporting that President Biden told Prime Minister Netanyahu that the present humanitarian situation in Gaza was unacceptable and that “US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.” Given the state of politics in America, I fully expected this reaction to the World Central Kitchen tragedy even though there is some question whether the reports of wholesale starvation throughout Gaza are accurate and questions as to who is to blame for localized supply problems—but I will not get into that today.
Significantly, however, there are no reports of a specific American threat should Israel move into Rafah. And the Biden administration has agreed to send Israel more much needed weaponry. In fact, the reports I have seen about attacking Hamas in Rafah amount more to disputes regarding tactics. It may be that the U.S. alternative involves dividing Rafah from Egypt by technical surveillance means and perhaps a physical road, then using targeting raids, and thereby cutting off Hamas control from the civilian population. Israel, on the other hand, does not see the U.S. proposal viable and wants instead to set up alternative sites for civilians in Rafah and then convince them to move there much like they successfully did in northern Gaza when a million people moved south despite Hamas trying to prevent it. Then the IDF would go in mass into Rafah to root out the thousands of Hamas forces their and kill their leadership. Nevertheless, both Israel and the United States appear to still be in agreement that Hamas cannot be left alone in Rafah forever. My guess is that we will see a hybrid of the two plans involving a process that will take many weeks before significant fighting begins.Eilat Drone Strike - On April 1, a drone launched from Iraqi soil by an Iranian proxy struck a building at an Israeli naval base in Eilat. No casualties were reported and the building sustained light damage. The day before, the IDF intercepted another drone before it hit a Christian village in the Galilee. The importance of these actions is greater than the result. More and more, Iranian coils are squeezing Israel’s body in places that had not yet been touched.
Israel Kills a High-Level Iranian Guard Commander in Syria—Also on April 1, Israel launched an airstrike at an apartment adjacent to the Iranian Embassy but that was not part of it, killing a high-level Iranian General much involved in the transfer of arms through Syria to Hezbollah and the establishment of a new front against Israel in Syria. In addition, his deputy and five other officers died in the attack. This strike demonstrates that post October 7, Israel no longer will wait and watch but instead will act. It’s Israel’s version of the new Rules of the Game. Iran has threatened to retaliate. In response, Israel cancelled leave for its active military units, called up reserve air defense personnel, and did something yesterday to interfere with GPS systems in Israel to disrupt navigation for incoming missiles and drones.
War in the North - In preparation for possible war with Hezbollah, Israel has stockpiled more than a half billion dollars’ worth of food and other necessities for Israeli citizens.
Combined, all this tells me that Iran’s constricting tentacles are closing but Israel remains determined and capable of cutting them off. And, war with Hezbollah is coming closer and a confrontation with Iran is looming. Not because Israel wants it but because Israel must break free of the constricting Iranian tentacles that are threatening to choke Israeli existence.
Meanwhile, I predict that Israel will do what it can to immediately comply with President Biden’s demand to do more on the humanitarian front (this morning there are already reports of that happening). In fact, in immediate response to the tragic deaths of the World Central Kitchen employees caused by IDF missiles, the IDF took full responsibility, announced establishment of a joint situation room to coordinate international aid organization activities with the IDF and better support humanitarian aid distribution (I wish this had been done long ago), and embarked on a thorough investigation the results of which it promised to disclose. Then, this morning, the IDF issued a report that takes full responsibility for the incident, admits there was a tragic misidentification, and announced disciplinary action taken that includes relieving two officers from command.
But I also predict that the World Central Kitchen story is too juicy an opportunity to castigate Israel for mainstream media to fairly report it. We will hear little of the efforts Israel has already taken and the success it has experienced to ensure that Gazan citizens receive assistance. We will hear little about Israel’s coordination with other nations to establish field hospitals, its agreement to provide security for America’s pier project, and the failings of UN personnel to transport aid. We will not hear much about the supply difficulties caused by the continued presence of 300,000 civilians in northern Gaza despite efforts to convince them to move south where they can more easily be supplied. We will not hear any approval of Israel’s successful movement of a million northern Gazans south. We will also not hear any praise of Israel’s new efforts to ease Gazan suffering. And of course, we will see few, if any, feature stories about Hamas stealing incoming humanitarian supplies and slowing their distribution or of Hamas’ attempts to prevent Gazan citizens from moving to safety.
Nor will we hear that friendly fire is a constant scourge of war, especially in the complicated, tangled battlefield of Gaza. I edited a book written by an experienced combat commander about friendly fire and how to limit it. It shocked me to learn how pervasive friendly fire incidents are and the difficulty of reducing their prevalence and the impossibility of eliminating it. Over the years, probably hundreds if not thousands of Israeli soldiers have died from friendly fire. Since October 7, dozens have. This does not excuse Israel from responsibility for the World Central Kitchen deaths. Nor does it explain the tragedy. But it is needed context. Those that suggest Israel acted intentionally or genocidally either do not comprehend the inherent complexities of the battlefield (which I don’t judge them negatively for but wish they would not rush to conclusions about) or are guilty of accusatory maliciousness.
Think about it for a moment. Does Israel benefit from killing humanitarian aid workers? Only those willing to entertain the darkest conspiracies would think so. But does Hamas benefit from their deaths? Absolutely. Will Hamas attempt to maneuver further such incidents? Likely. Western journalists, try writing and speaking about that. And while you are at it, suggest that the way to stop Gazan civilian suffering now is for Hamas to surrender.
Do not be confused by the graph. The vertical axis counts events. It does not count the number of missiles or UAV’s fired by Hezbollah during each event. Thus, the 130 high-trajectory fire events in March is representative of several hundred missiles or more actually fired.
‘Multiple Factual Flaws’: Israel Contests UN-backed Report on Imminent Famine in Gaza—Written by Times of Israel Staff and Reuters—March 30, 2024
![Palestinian terrorists patrol in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, March 1, 2024. Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90. Palestinian terrorists patrol in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, March 1, 2024. Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90.](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4850b3d8-3e89-411b-99b1-29762e4f5642_1320x880.jpeg)
US Presents Israel with Alternatives to Rafah Battle—Written by Joshua Marks for Jewish News Syndicate—March 31, 2024.
History Goes to War in the Holy Land—Wall Street Journal Interview of Benny Morris by Elliot Kaufman—March 29, 2024—Morris was once a hero of the pro-Palestinian movement for his early studies of the 1948 war but since he has changed his tune, or perhaps better defined it. He is no longer their hero.
Lebanon's Precarious Sectarian Balance Tipping Amid Hezbollah-Israel War—Written by Reuters and carried by the Jerusalem Post—March 31, 2024
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F91406401-9569-477e-a852-9317ae4a7648_640x400.jpeg)
While Diplomatic Efforts Go On, IDF is Bracing for Short but Devastating War in Lebanon—Written by Amir Bar Shalom for Times of Israel—March 30, 2024
Debunking the Myth of the Muqawwamah (“Resistance”):
The Strategic Significance of the Surrender of Hamas Terrorists—Written by Colonel (res.) Eran Lerman for the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security—March 26, 2024
Israel’s Struggle with Hezbollah—A War Without End is now available in eBook and hardback format on Amazon and IngramSpark. This compelling narrative explores Hezbollah’s origins and cancerous growth, traces Israel’s response, and reveals Israel’s present readiness to meet Hezbollah’s challenge.
Cliff Sobin
Important Link—Alma Research and Education Center: Understanding the Security Challenges on Israel’s Northern Border
Agreed! A very powerful and clear description about the state of affairs!
Right on!
Write on!!