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Double Standards as New York Times Accuses IDF of Using Palestinians as Human Shields
Replete with a headline designed to tarnish Israel’s entire military, The New York Times recently published an investigation alleging that IDF soldiers were using Gazans as human shields during operations in the Gaza Strip.
In order to make its case, The New York Times says it “interviewed 16 Israeli soldiers and officials who knew about the practice, as well as three Palestinians, on the record, who were forced to take part in it.”
While the small number of Palestinians are named, the Israelis are not. It is always problematic to present anonymous testimony in a story where we don’t know the motivations behind those who are talking to the journalists.
The Role of ‘Breaking the Silence’
Two of the Israelis, however, were connected to The New York Times through Breaking the Silence, whose motivations are very clear.
The organization, which was founded in 2004 by former IDF soldiers who are highly critical of Israel, claims to “expose the public to the reality of everyday life in the Occupied Territories” using testimonies that are purported to be “meticulously researched” while “all facts are cross-checked with additional eyewitnesses.”
However, as its critics have repeatedly alleged, the group appears to frequently rely on “either fabricated or exaggerated” testimonies from former soldiers — some of whom received a salary from Breaking the Silence — and are “motivated by financial and political concerns to further a pro-Palestinian agenda.”
Breaking the Silence also provided two photos to The New York Times for its story. Given the lack of context and the poor visual quality of both photos, it is impossible to confirm whether these images are evidence of anything let alone the captions that allege IDF misdemeanors.
It would be naive to suggest that every soldier in the IDF or any other comparable army behaves in an exemplary fashion.
Only this last September, The New Yorker published a database of what it said is the “largest known collection of investigations of possible war crimes committed [by the US military] in Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11—nearly eight hundred incidents in all.”
Some of the alleged crimes include “the case of soldiers raping a fourteen-year-old girl and subsequently murdering her and her family; the alleged killing of a man by a Green Beret who cut off his victim’s ear and kept it; and cruelty toward detainees at Abu Ghraib prison and at the Bagram Air Base detention facility.”
All of this is not to claim that the IDF is necessarily more moral than the American military, although there is certainly a good case to be made. The point is that nobody would condemn the entirety of the US Army as an immoral entity that brings shame to its country despite the behavior of a minority of its troops.
Yet when it comes to New York Times coverage of and investigations into the IDF, it’s impossible to ignore the Gray Lady’s wider agenda that continuously seeks to delegitimize Israeli self-defense against the terrorists who are currently attacking it from multiple fronts.
For example, only days ago, the paper published an article that accused Israel of committing war crimes and “shooting children at point-blank range.” That story also relied on questionable testimonies and even more questionable X-rays purporting to show IDF bullets lodged in the heads of Palestinian children. The very authenticity of the X-rays was called into question, as the entire story was torn apart online.
When it comes to verifying evidence and testimonies, The New York Times isn’t doesn’t exactly cover itself in glory.
Who Actually Uses Human Shields?
But hasn’t The New York Times also investigated Hamas’ use of human shields?
Yes and no.
On September 10, 2024, it published this story:
Yet despite the headline, the term “human shields” does not appear even once in the body of the article.
Nowhere is there an examination of how Hamas deliberately, as a policy, embeds itself within civilian infrastructure as a means of protecting its terrorists and their weaponry from Israel. Nowhere does it address how Hamas leaders are fully prepared to sacrifice innocent Gazans in pursuit of their own sick ideological goals.
Indeed, the entire concept of human shields only works if you are facing an enemy that values human life and is not prepared to toss International Humanitarian Law and the Laws of Warfare into the wind.
Double Standards
But while Israel is committed to upholding those laws, the other side, Hamas plays by different rules.
Of course, the IDF should be held to these standards, and accountability is important to maintain them. That does not, however, give The New York Times a free pass to exercise double standards when it comes to the issue of human shields.
When @nytimes uses individual cases that go against the IDF’s own Code of Ethics to tarnish Israel’s entire army yet fails to address Hamas’ policy of using Gaza’s entire population as human shields, that’s not journalism, it’s a double standard. https://t.co/TnITu8Mmgv
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) October 14, 2024
Notably, it appears that while The New York Times is content to treat the IDF using human shields as fact, when it comes to Hamas, the terrorist organization’s use of human shields is treated as an Israeli claim — despite evidence from Hamas operatives and leaders confirming this policy.
For example:
“Al-Shifa, Israeli officials have argued, is an example of Hamas’s willingness to use hospitals as cover and turn civilians into human shields.”
“The Israeli military says that Hamas has ‘cynically exploited’ schools, hospitals and shelters, using them as bases and civilians as human shields.”
When asked by The Times of Israel about the Times story, the IDF responded that “the orders and instructions of the IDF forbid using civilians in Gaza who were arrested in the field for military missions,” adding that “The orders and instructions are made clear regularly to soldiers in the field during the war.”
This is key. What The New York Times won’t say is that all of the soldiers who spoke out have the option of reporting what they allege to have seen directly to a functioning investigatory system.
As the IDF explains:
IDF forces are obligated to report incidents that raise suspicion for violations of the law or IDF orders. Any report (submitted by IDF forces or received otherwise), complaint, or allegation that suggests misconduct by IDF forces, undergoes an initial examination process, irrespective of its source.
In certain cases, the report, complaint, or claim received raises prima facie a reasonable suspicion for criminal misconduct (such as concrete allegations that raise a reasonable suspicion of looting or the abuse of detainees). In such cases, the MAG promptly orders to launch a criminal investigation. Criminal investigations of alleged misconduct occurring in the context of operational activity are conducted by a specialized department under the IDF Military Police Criminal Investigation Division, the National Unit for Operational Affairs. The unit’s work is directed by the MAG.
Put simply, there is an Israeli mechanism for investigating the very accusations that The New York Times has highlighted. In addition, Israel benefits from a multitude of civil society organizations and a free press that exists to hold those in power accountable.
The New York Times, however, is only interested in advocating for Palestinian welfare when it sees an opportunity to malign Israel. The IDF is certainly not beyond criticism or reproach. But is it too much to ask for The New York Times to ditch the double standards?
Probably, yes.
The author the Editorial Director of HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Double Standards as New York Times Accuses IDF of Using Palestinians as Human Shields first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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JD Vance Says US, Israel Sometimes Have ‘Distinct Interests,’ Underscores Importance of Avoiding War With Iran
Then-US Senate candidate JD Vance, now the 2024 Republican vice-presidential nominee, speaks as GOP presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump smiles at a rally, in Dayton, Ohio, US, Nov. 7, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
US vice presidential nominee JD Vance has appeared to temper a potential Trump administration’s support for Israel during a recent interview, arguing that the US and Jewish state can at times have conflicting interests and warning that Washington should seek to avoid a war with Iran, the Jewish state’s chief adversary in the Middle East.
During the nearly hour-and-a-half interview with podcaster Tim Dillon, Vance stated that although he believes Israel has the right to defend itself from threats, there are instances in which the Jewish state’s military goals could conflict with US interests.
“Israel has the right to defend itself, but America’s interest is sometimes going to be distinct — like sometimes we’re going to have overlapping interests and sometimes we’re going to have distinct interests, and our interest, I think, very much is in not going to war with Iran,” Vance said.
The Republican senator from Ohio argued that a war between Iran and the US would be a significant resource drain on the American military.
“It would be [a] huge distraction of resources; it would be massively expensive to our country,” Vance said.
US intelligence agencies have for years labeled Iran as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism, noting it devotes significant sums of money and weapons each year to supporting proxies across the Middle East such as Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Reflecting on Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel last year, Vance said that he and his wife felt “worried” for their personal friends who live in the Jewish state. The senator then claimed that many American supporters of Israel “were actually much more militaristic than the Israelis that were actually living in Israel” following the Hamas atrocities and suggested that, in the immediate aftermath of the onslaught, American allies of the Jewish state expressed enthusiasm to prosecute wars against Iran and Russia.
“We just have to be smarter, right? We have to be smarter. Now, I don’t want Iran to get a nuclear weapon. And, I think we should be, like, strongly encouraging the Iranians, and using all the influence we have, to encourage them to not have a nuclear weapon,” Vance said.
The senator underscored the importance of engaging in “smart diplomacy” to advance US interests without using military force. Vance used the Abraham Accords — a series of historic, US-brokered normalization agreements struck between Israel and several countries in the Arab world when Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was in the White House — as examples of how the US government should secure peace between the Jewish state and its neighbors.
Vance’s comments raised eyebrows among many pro-Israel supporters on social media, with some arguing that the senator undermined the Trump campaign’s attempts to frame the former president as more supportive of the Jewish state than Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
In the months leading up to the election, Trump has aggressively courted Jewish voters, touting his administration’s previous work on the Abraham Accords and close relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump has also stated that his administration would deport non-American residents who participate in violent anti-Israel protests.
The post JD Vance Says US, Israel Sometimes Have ‘Distinct Interests,’ Underscores Importance of Avoiding War With Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Turkey’s Erdogan Sends ‘Best Wishes’ to Iran After Israel Strike, Continues Fierce Criticism of Jewish State
Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not seen) at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, May 13, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave his “best wishes” to Iran and accused Israel of trying to provoke a regional war in the Middle East in response to the Jewish state’s airstrikes against Iranian military targets over the weekend.
Erdogan’s comments continued his hostile posture toward Israel over the past year, during which Turkish-Israeli relations have nosedived amid Israel’s ongoing military operations against two Iran-backed Islamist terrorist groups: Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
On Saturday, over 100 Israeli aircraft targeted missile production sites and air defenses inside Iran, significantly crippling Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities and production capacity. The sophisticated operation was in response to Iran firing more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel earlier in the month, as well as ongoing attacks from its terror proxies in the region, according to Israeli officials.
Responding to the strikes, Erdogan expressed solidarity with Iran and portrayed Israel as the aggressor.
“I extend my best wishes to our neighbor Iran and the Iranian government, which were the target of Israeli aggression last night,” Erdogan said at an event in the southern city of Hatay, according to Turkish media.
The Turkish president also claimed without evidence that Israel was seeking to set a “trap” to start a regional war.
“The Zionist Israeli government is attempting to ignite a regional conflict. It is crucial not to fall into the trap set by Israel and its supporters,” he said. “With this mindset, Israel will achieve nothing. We expect their wrath from Allah.”
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry released a statement condemning Israel’s military strikes and similarly accusing the Jewish state of bringing the region toward a broader conflict. The ministry went on to falsely accuse Israel of “committing genocide in Gaza,” preparing to annex the West Bank, and attacking civilians in Lebanon.
“Ending the terrorism created by Israel in the region has become a historic duty in terms of establishing international security and peace,” the statement read, calling on the international community to take steps to avoid further escalation.
The ministry and Erdogan’s comments came two months after Turkey’s Ambassador to Iran Hicabi Kırlangıç lambasted Israel in an interview as “one of the most ruthless enemies” and condemned Western countries for supporting Jerusalem. He also said that Iran’s plan to attack Israel in retaliation for the killing over the summer of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran should be harsh enough to force the Jewish state to “fall to its knees.”
Haniyeh was killed in an explosion in Iran’s capital city on July 31. Iran, the chief international sponsor of Hamas, accused Israel of carrying out the assassination and vowed revenge. The Israeli government has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for Haniyeh’s death.
Iran, which initially launched an unprecedented direct attack against Israel in April, also said it would retaliate following Israeli airstrikes in recent weeks that killed the top leaders of its Hezbollah allies in Lebanon, including longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
On Oct. 1, Iran acted on its threats, firing nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel. The only fatality from the barrage was Sameh Asli, 37, a Palestinian from Jabalia in Gaza. He was killed by missile shrapnel in the West Bank village of Nu’eima, near Jericho, during the attack.
Following Israel’s retaliatory strikes this past weekend, Iranian officials attempted to downplay the severity of the strikes. However, an Israeli weapons systems and intelligence expert told The Algemeiner on Sunday that the Islamist regime’s ballistic missile program will need at least a year to recover from the strikes.
Amid escalating tensions between Israel and Iran and its proxies, Turkey has been one of the fiercest critics of Israel — and defenders of Hamas — since the outbreak of the Gaza war last October.
Last month Erdogan said that the United Nations General Assembly should recommend the use of force, in line with a resolution it passed in 1950, if the UN Security Council fails to stop Israel’s military operations in Gaza and Lebanon.
In August, Erdogan declared Aug. 2 a day of national mourning over the killing of Haniyeh.
The announcement came days after Erdogan made an explicit threat to invade Israel, leading Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz to call on NATO to expel Turkey, which has the alliance’s second largest military.
Turkey has reportedly blocked cooperation between NATO and Israel since last October because of the war in Hamas-ruled Gaza and said the alliance should not engage with Israel as a partner until the conflict ends.
Erdogan’s comments were the latest in a recent wave of hostile moves targeting the Jewish state.
Earlier this year, for example, Turkey’s foreign ministry compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
In May, the Turkish trade ministry said it had ceased all exports and imports to and from Israel. The announcement came after Turkey imposed trade restrictions on Israeli exports over Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza following the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 invasion of and massacre across the southern region of the Jewish state.
That followed Erdogan in March threatening to “send Netanyahu to Allah to take care of him, make him miserable, and curse him.” He previously accused Israel of operating “Nazi” concentration camps and compared Netanyahu with Hitler.
Weeks earlier, Erdogan said that Netanyahu was a “butcher” who would be tried as a “war criminal” over Israel’s defensive military operations in Gaza. He has also called Israel a “terror state.”
Turkey hosts senior Hamas officials and, together with Iran and Qatar, has provided a large portion of the Palestinian terrorist group’s budget.
Several Western and Arab states designate Hamas, an offshoot of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, as a terrorist group.
However, Erdogan has defended Hamas terrorists as “resistance fighters” against what he described as an Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.
Israel withdrew all its troops and civilian settlers from Gaza in 2005.
Turkish-Israeli diplomatic relations have nosedived since the Hamas atrocities of last Oct. 7, when the terrorist group that rules Gaza murdered 1,200 people in southern Israel and kidnapped over 250 hostages, launching the ongoing war in the Palestinian enclave.
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Israel Wants More Peace Deals With Arab Countries After War, Netanyahu Says
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a memorial ceremony for those murdered by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and those who fell in the “Iron Sword” war, at the Knesset, the Parliament, in Jerusalem, Oct. 28, 2024. Photo: DEBBIE HILL/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he hopes to reach peace deals with more Arab countries once the war against Iranian terrorist proxies Hamas and Hezbollah is complete.
“The day after Hamas no longer controls Gaza and Hezbollah no longer sits on our northern border [in Lebanon], we are working these days on plans to stabilize those two fronts. But the day after includes something else of utmost importance,” Netanyahu said in a speech to parliament.
“I aspire to continue the process I led a few years ago of the signing of the historic Abraham Accords, and achieve peace with more Arab countries,” he said.
Israel, under the US-brokered 2020 accords, normalized relations with four Arab countries: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan.
Since then, Israel, with US support, has sought to also include other nations, particularly Saudi Arabia. Riyadh says it will not recognize Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state.
“These countries, and other countries, see clearly the blows we are landing on those who attack us, the Iranian axis of evil,” he said. “They aspire, like us, for a stable, secure, and prosperous Middle East.”
The post Israel Wants More Peace Deals With Arab Countries After War, Netanyahu Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.