Why Israel's mistreatment of the press in Gaza is a big mistake
The IDF is blocking the press from accurate reporting like the Iron Dome blocks Hamas rockets.
By Hayes Brown, MSNBC Opinion Columnist
Israel knows how narratives can shatter under the scrutiny of media willing to investigate its claims. The Israel Defense Forces have one of the most active and responsive press offices among the world's armed services. From off-the-record briefings to posting memes on Twitter, the Israelis know the power of messaging. Which is why the last several days of Israel's alienating the foreign media covering its latest offensive into Gaza feels both deliberate — and like a mistake on their part.
On Friday, not long after midnight local time, the IDF tweeted that "IDF air and ground troops are currently attacking in the Gaza Strip." It was followed up with on-the-record confirmations from a spokesperson to reporters that "there are ground troops in Gaza." It was only after journalists from The Wall Street Journal and other major outlets reported that the assault had begun that the IDF reversed course — there actually were no ground forces in the Gaza Strip. Instead, the army was still outside the strip, launching artillery into the territory, it said two hours after its first tweet.
The spokesperson who'd provided the confirmation said it was a mistake. Local Israeli media, on the other hand, reported it differently, according to The New York Times:
But in the Hebrew-language press, the military was simultaneously being praised for luring Hamas fighters into a network of tunnels in northern Gaza that was pounded by some 160 Israeli jets in a fury of airstrikes beginning around midnight.
“This is how the tunnels became death traps for terrorists in Gaza,” Israel’s Channel 12 news station headlined a report by its military reporter, which called the spread of misinformation to foreign journalists a “planned ploy.”
The Israeli press cited the military as saying the plan had worked.
Nobody likes to be a patsy. The media in particular look poorly upon being used as a pawn — whether lies come from a foreign government or our own. If the IDF used a false report to draw out targets, it transformed reporters from observers into participants in the war, pieces to be moved around to better gain a military advantage.
The Associated Press was one of the organizations that didn't run with the IDF's report — its office in Gaza saw no confirmation of any ground forces in the area. That won't be the case moving forward. Its office in Gaza is gone, demolished in an Israeli airstrike. The occupants of the building that it shared with Al Jazeera and families that lived on the upper floors were given minutes to get out before the drones and fighter jets struck.
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Posted By: Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
Tuesday, May 18th 2021 at 8:49AM
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