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Jewish Groups Condemn ’60 Minutes’ Segment Criticizing US Support for Israel During Gaza War
Troops from the IDF’s 98th Division operating in Jabalia, the northern Gaza Strip, May 2024. Photo: Israel Defense Forces.
The investigative news television program “60 Minutes” has been widely criticized for airing a “one-sided” and “biased” segment on Sunday night that featured former US State Department officials who condemned American support for Israel’s defensive war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
The CBS News show aired a segment titled “Dissent Within the State Department Over US Role in Israel-Hamas War.” It highlighted interviews with three former US State Department officials who resigned from their positions in protest of US support for Israel’s ongoing military actions in Gaza, which target Hamas terrorists who orchestrated the deadly terrorist attack in southern Israel that took place on Oct. 7, 2023. One of the former State Department officials told “60 Minutes”: “There is a linkage between every single bomb that is dropped in Gaza and the US because every single bomb is dropped from an American-made plane.”
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) called the “60 Minutes” segment “biased and misguided” in a statement released on Monday. The organization detailed a slew of issues with the segment, including its mention of unverified civilian casualty figures and the fact that it barely mentioned the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Oct. 7 that started the ongoing war in Gaza. The segment even described Hamas fighters as “militants” rather than terrorists. AJC also denounced the CBS show for promoting the “outlandish notion” that, after Hamas’s atrocities in southern Israel, the Jewish state should have made efforts to make peace with the Palestinian terrorist group rather than engage in self-defense to rescue the hostages taken to Gaza and target the Hamas terrorists who threatened to perpetrate similar deadly massacres in the future.
“This segment, the latest example of major news outlets recklessly reporting on Israel’s defensive war against Hamas, was shockingly one-sided, lacked factual accuracy, and relied heavily on misguided information,” AJC added.
“In this segment, ‘60 Minutes’ plays directly into the hands of the enemies of the West who aim to show that support for Israel is not in the United States’ best interest. Nothing could be further from the truth,” AJC noted. “Israel’s actions against Iranian-backed terror groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, as well as its recent direct responses to Iranian attacks, help deter attacks on the US. Each of these terror organizations has American blood on its hands. We share common enemies — the enemies of democracy and freedom.”
AJC CEO Ted Deutch said in a separate statement on X that the “60 Minutes” segment on Sunday night “relies on the same biased accusations and information that attempt to demonize and delegitimize Israel.”
“The one-sided segment plays into the hands of enemies of democracy and freedom who aim to divide the US and Israel,” he added. “It is shocking to see this kind of irresponsible journalism from a long-running, respected news program like ’60 Minutes.’”
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), said in a post on X he is “outraged” that “60 Minutes” would “air such a biased and one-sided piece, villainizing Israel and berating US support for its ally.”
“Where are the counter perspectives to those interviewed? Where is the mention of the nearly 100 hostages — including Americans — STILL in captivity!? What kind of journalism is that?” he wrote. “According to last night’s piece, Israel should have responded to the mass slaughter, mutilation, rape, and kidnapping of its citizens by asking the perpetrators of these vicious crimes for peace. Newsflash: Rewarding terrorism won’t bring peace. And this sort of biased coverage only serves to fuel hate. It’s like a blood libel in a moment of expanding, intensifying antisemitism.”
“Responsible coverage of the war should not only honor the lives lost, but also accurately describe those responsible for this conflict for what they are — antisemitic terrorists,” he concluded.
Honest Reporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog that focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias, released a detailed report on Monday of all the “skewed” and “imbalanced” reporting included in the “60 Minutes” segment. It revealed that the investigative news program amplified anti-Israel voices in the segment on Sunday night while failing to mention that two of its interviewees have “a history of anti-Israel activism and associations with anti-Israel organizations,” including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). Honest Reporting claimed “60 Minutes” tried to disguise these two former State Department officials — Josh Paul, a former director in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs; and Hala Rharrit, a former American diplomat who specialized in the Middle East — as “impartial observers,” when in reality they are anti-Israel activists.
US Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) wrote on X that “60 Minutes” aired “a disgraceful hit job against Israel,” and “forgot that Hamas started the war, Hamas still holds American hostages, and any damage in Gaza is the sole fault of Hamas.”
Others who have condemned the “60 Minutes” segment include Jewish actor Michael Rapaport, who described the segment as a “smear campaign” against Israel and the show as a “propaganda machine.” Dozens on social media have called the segment “despicable,” labeled it as “a hit piece vilifying Israel,” and accused “60 Minutes” of defending Hamas.
The post Jewish Groups Condemn ’60 Minutes’ Segment Criticizing US Support for Israel During Gaza War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.