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Fearing denial and disinformation, Israel shows journalists raw footage of Hamas attacks

TEL AVIV (JTA) — On Monday morning, Roxane Runel posted a photograph to Instagram of two Israel military officers addressing a crowd of reporters in an auditorium. Behind them is a giant television screen.

“Press conference between the international media and the Israeli army after it disseminated images and recordings of the Oct. 7 attacks,” Runel, a reporter for France’s M6 television channel, wrote across the photo, touting an upcoming broadcast. “Why? What is at stake?”

Runel, who has reported from several countries, has already interviewed relatives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza after Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion of Israel, which killed and wounded thousands. Yet in the middle of Monday’s screening of the attack footage, she was one of a number of journalists who stepped out early.

“It was too much,” she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “I knew coming here that the hardest thing for me would not be the images but the sound, because you can close your eyes if the images are too much.”

Runel was one of about 200 journalists who attended the screening, which the Israeli government billed as raw and unedited audio and video taken from Hamas terrorists’ body cameras and phones as they massacred communities on Israel’s border with Gaza. In addition to clips of Hamas attackers shooting people, the 43-minute compilation contained graphic images of children being murdered, bodies burned, civilians being mowed down and other atrocities.

Gruesome photos and videos have circulated online in the two weeks after the attack, along with harrowing accounts of the violence visited upon Israelis. The images have become so ubiquitous that Jewish day schools in the United States cautioned students to delete their social media apps to avoid seeing them, while journalists and other public figures have expressed ambivalence about sharing them.

The IDF has taken delegations of foreign journalists into some of the hardest-hit communities, with one spokesperson saying just days after the attack, “Walking through here is like Eisenhower walking through Bergen-Belsen and seeing the destruction and carnage. The world needs to witness this firsthand.”

Now, the Israeli government’s decision to broadcast the footage came as it is increasingly concerned that people are questioning the scale and depravity of Hamas’ massacre. Social media users and journalists alike have expressed skepticism about widespread reports and testimonies of the attack’s most harrowing details, often at the same time as they have sought to shift attention toward the escalating casualties of Israel’s retaliatory war in Gaza, where it aims to depose Hamas.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this and I can’t believe that we as a country are having to do this,” said Eylon Levy, an Israeli government spokesman, in a video announcing the press conference. “As we work to defeat the terror organization that brutalized our people, we are witnessing a Holocaust denial-like phenomenon evolving in real time as people are casting doubt on the magnitude of the atrocities that Hamas committed against our people, and in fact recorded in order to glorify that violence.”

At the press conference, held at a military base north of Tel Aviv, chief IDF spokesperson Adm. Daniel Hagari said the military had “been thinking about this for a couple of days, whether to show it or not,” but decided that screening the footage served as a valuable reminder of the atrocities both for the international media covering the war and Israelis themselves.

“We will not let the world forget who we are fighting,” he said, adding that the footage helps Israelis “to understand ourselves what we are fighting for.”

In addition, IDF Maj. Gen. Mickey Edelstein told the reporters, the Israeli military has evidence it cannot show of sexual violence committed by the Hamas terrorists as well as evidence of links between Hamas and Iran.

He dispelled Hamas claims that terrorists unaffiliated with the group committed the atrocities, saying that the video shows proof that “the vast majority are Hamas” and that the perpetrators attacking civilians were dressed in full tactical gear. Written and other evidence the IDF has discovered, he added, shows that Hamas had planned “to bring hostages and keep families, in order that it would be much more painful.”

Many attendees gasped in horror at difficult elements of the footage, and some chose to exit the theater before the screening had finished. Runel said her personal “limit” was reached when listening to an audio clip of a call on WhatsApp between a Hamas terrorist and his parents, made via the stolen cellphone of an Israeli victim.

“He tells them on the phone — with a voice that is so ecstatic — he sounds like he’s out of his mind,” she said. “He was repeating the same thing over and over again, ‘I killed 10 of them.’ He was saying this as something he was really proud of and he wanted his parents to check the Whatsapp” to see videos he sent of the massacre. The man’s father reacted with praise, while his mother begged him to return home.

Amit Palit, a news anchor and correspondent for India TV based in New Delhi, said that after reporting on the attacks of Oct. 7 on live television, seeing the raw footage helped him understand the “bigger picture.” He said the screening “was necessary for many people who have some doubts.”

Palit, who has been covering the war in Israel for the past 12 days, was most affected by a video of two young brothers after they lost their father, who was murdered in front of them with an explosive while the three were hiding together in a bomb shelter at home. The footage was among the “very painful” clips he witnessed, he said.

“He was asking, ‘Dad,’ and the teenager said, ‘Why am I alive?’” Palit recounted. “A 13-year-old boy cursing himself, asking why he was alive, asking his brother ‘Can you see?’ And he couldn’t see because he lost [one of] his eyes” from the shrapnel of the blast that killed his father.”

Some journalists expressed skepticism about the screening, saying that authentic footage compiled by the Israeli army could come with its own agenda. Nicolas Coadou, a reporter for BFN TV in France, said the footage “is edited, they choose what they want to show us.”

But he acknowledged that reporting on the press conference would be challenging.

“I have a live [broadcast] in one hour,” he said. “And I don’t know what I am going to say.”

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The post Fearing denial and disinformation, Israel shows journalists raw footage of Hamas attacks appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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Antisemitism Spike Is Top Concern in Survey of Global Jewish Population

Israeli President Isaac Herzog looks on during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, not pictured, in Washington, DC, on Oct. 25, 2022. Photo: Stefani Reynolds/Pool via REUTERS

A study polling more than 10,000 Jews across the world that was released on Wednesday by Voice of the People shows that worries about rising antisemitism now dominate lists of community challenges across demographics.

Working together with the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency for Israel, the group led by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, the findings of the report will inform a council of 150 Jewish leaders from around the world.

“This is not just a data set — it’s a global Jewish reality check,” Shirel Dagan-Levy, CEO of Voice of the People, said in a statement. She added that the survey shows “a community that is hurting, but also more united than ever in its desire to stand tall, protect its heritage, and shape a stronger, safer future.”

Researchers focused on identifying what Jews saw as leading problems in their communities. Top responses included rising antisemitism (76 percent agreeing), Israel-diaspora relations (56 percent), Jewish-non-Jewish relations (49 percent), polarization within the Jewish world (49 percent), and preserving Jewish culture and heritage (46 percent).

“Antisemitism surging to unprecedented levels since Oct. 7 was the top concern by a wide margin,” Voice of the People said in a press release. “Respondents cited personal experiences of hate speech, exclusion, and discrimination — particularly in schools, universities, and on social media. Many reported suppressing their Jewish identity in public out of fear. The level of concern cut across age, geography, and level of observance.”

Neta Danciger, chief marketing and product officer of Voice of the People, added that “to truly hear the voices of our global Jewish community, we had to meet them where they are — online, across continents, and across generations.” She continued, “By combining the reach of digital and social media with a rigorous, community-driven survey model, we were able to capture authentic, real-time insights that reflect not only the challenges Jews face today, but also the resilience and unity that define our future.”

On connections between Israel and diaspora Jewish communities, researchers found a mix of results, both that some younger diaspora Jews felt greater distance from Israel while others felt a surge of emotional connection.

Nearly half of Jews described greater feelings of alienation from some non-Jewish spaces, particularly those of a progressive ideological orientation, due to what Voice of the People described as “misinformation, anti-Israel rhetoric, and ignorance about Jewish history” being “key drivers of mistrust and social isolation.”

As concerned as Jews were with those outside of their community, equal numbers also saw the internal divisions among politics, ideology, and generations as a problem in need of attention.

The survey noted some of these differences according to age.

Gen Z (82 percent) and millennials (81 percent) most identified antisemitism as a top problem. “Younger respondents expressed acute distress over hostility in social and digital spaces, with many reporting a sense of betrayal from progressive allies and a struggle to safely and confidently express their Jewish identity. Campus-based antisemitism and social media harassment were cited frequently,” Voice of the People stated.

Members of Generation X in particular (78 percent) tended to hide public expressions of their Jewish identity to avoid antisemitism while Baby Boomers and Silent Generation respondents (68 each) focused their concerns on “the future of Israel, Jewish continuity, and a sense that historical cycles of persecution may be repeating,” according to Voice of the People.

Researchers also identified geographic trends.

Jews in Israel (89 percent) said they felt strong concerns for Jews in the diaspora, seeing rising antisemitism as a threat to the collective Jewish future.

In the United States, respondents (78 percent) described failures of institutions to offer support, especially in academic and professional settings, while in the United Kingdom, 81 percent said they felt a need to conceal their Jewish identity in public.

Of those living in France, 73 percent said they worried about antisemitic rhetoric, public hostility, and misinformation.

For Jews in Argentina (87 percent) and Mexico (84 percent) concerns about rising antisemitism went alongside a greater sense of pride in their Jewish identity.

Majorities in South Africa (75 percent) and in Australia (65 percent) supported education, solidarity, and local activism to counter antisemitism.

The survey also offered respondents the opportunity to provide open-ended answers to questions such as “How have recent events impacted your sense of Jewish identity and community?”

One person quoted in the report answered that “it has made me more acutely aware of antisemitism and that very few people or communities care about what happens to us except us.”

The post Antisemitism Spike Is Top Concern in Survey of Global Jewish Population first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Global Leaders Sound Alarm on Surge of Antisemitism at IHRA Conference

British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis speaking at the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) conference in Jerusalem on May 27, 2025. Photo: Screenshot

British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis warned that anti-Zionism has become “the new antisemitism,” amid mounting global concern over a surge in antisemitic incidents and anti-Jewish hate crimes

Speaking at the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday evening, Mirvis asserted that anti-Zionism is increasingly being weaponized to mask anti-Jewish sentiment, disguised as legitimate political criticism of Israel.

Hosted by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, the annual IHRA conference — held last year in the United Kingdom — began with a moment of silence honoring the two Israeli embassy staffers murdered in Washington, DC last week.

IHRA is an intergovernmental organization comprising dozens of countries dedicated to combating antisemitism and promoting Holocaust research and education. In 2016, IHRA adopted a “working definition” of antisemitism which in the ensuing years has been widely accepted by Jewish groups and lawmakers across the political spectrum. It is now used by hundreds of governing institutions, including the US State Department, European Union, and United Nations.

In his speech, Mirvis emphasized Jerusalem’s vital role as both Israel’s capital and the enduring spiritual and cultural center of Jewish identity and faith.

“For Jews, the very presence of Almighty God is manifest here in this holy city more than in any other place on earth. And God gave this city and this land to the Jewish people for all time,” Mirvis said during the two-day conference.

“Israel is not just a geopolitical reality for the Jewish people. It is far more than that. It’s the center of our Jewish religion,” the Jewish leader continued. “So therefore, if you are anti-Zionist, you are also anti-Jewish. But more than that, you’re anti-Judaism, and your animosity affects the very wellbeing of Jews right around the world.”

Since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, anti-Israel activism has sparked a rise in antisemitic incidents. In this context, longstanding antisemitic stereotypes are increasingly being directed at Israel, with the term “Zionist” weaponized to mask deep-rooted antisemitic tropes under the pretense of legitimate political critique.

At the same event, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech, calling on European leaders to resist the growing demonization of the Jewish state.

Anti-Israel protesters in European countries “are basically challenging Western civilization [and] free societies as we understand them,” Netanyahu said. Many of these leaders “want to control the rampant attacks that are then directed at them for having relations with Israel, for having contact with it.”

“What you try to do is try to corral your victim when in fact, your countries are the victim. Because what is being done is an attempt to deny Israel, and in fact all free societies the ability to fight these barbarians,” the Israeli leader continued.

“Don’t succumb to the vilification, don’t succumb to this complete aversion of morality,” Netanyahu said. “I urge you to fight antisemitism not only because it’s right. I urge you to fight antisemitism because it will save you.”

During his speech, Netanyahu also warned that Israel is fighting “not merely a seven-front war [against Iran-backed proxies in the Middle East], but an eight-front war,” describing it as a broader struggle of “civilization against barbarism.”

“The most important thing you have to do in fighting antisemitism is to stand up and not be cowered,” the Israeli premier continued. “Do not be afraid to speak up. Speak up, stand up for the truth, stand up for the Jewish people, stand up for civilization.”

During the conference, Saar also delivered a speech in which he condemned international leaders and governments seeking to impose an arms embargo on Israel.

“If these initiatives will be successful, Israel will simply be eliminated,” the top Israeli diplomat said. “There will be another Holocaust – this time on the soil of the Land of Israel.”

“The ancient desire to eliminate the Jewish people has become stronger. It has become a plan of action for our enemies,” he continued.

Noting that 80 years have passed since the Holocaust, Saar emphasized IHRA’s vital role in “safeguarding and passing on the stories and lessons of the Holocaust to future generations.”

The post Global Leaders Sound Alarm on Surge of Antisemitism at IHRA Conference first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Democratic Socialists of America Defends Accused DC Jewish Museum Shooter Elias Rodriguez as ‘Political Prisoner’

Elias Rodriguez taken into custody by police. Source: NYPost

Elias Rodriguez, 31, from Chicago, taken into custody by police for allegedly shooting two Israeli Embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, on May 21, 2025. Photo: Screenshot

A caucus in the far-left Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has praised Elias Rodrigez, who was charged with murdering two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, last week, and called for his release from prison.

The “Liberation Caucus,” a self-described “Marxist-Leninist-Maoist” faction of the DSA, announced on Tuesday that the organization added its name to an official statement from the far-left group Unity of Fields, which applauded the shooting of Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, last Wednesday evening as they were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC.

“Elias Rodriguez’s targeted attack on two Israeli diplomatic staff on May 21, 2025, was a legitimate act of resistance against the Zionist state and its genocidal campaign in Gaza,” Unity of Fields said in a statement. “After twenty months of non-stop apocalyptic violence wrought by the Zionist movement, inflicted upon Palestinian civilians striving for national liberation as well as on the freedom fighters advancing that national liberation; after twenty months of political and legal repression by these same Zionists against our international movement opposing their campaign of total destruction — the time has now come for real consequences.”

Rodriguez, a 31-year-old left-wing and anti-Israel activist from Chicago, was charged last Thursday in US federal court with two counts of first-degree murder. He is accused of fatally shooting Lischinsky and Milgrim, a young couple about to become engaged to be married, as they left an event for young professionals and diplomatic staff hosted by the American Jewish Committee (AJC). According to video of the attack and an affidavit filed by US federal authorities supporting the criminal charges, Rodriguez yelled “Free Palestine” while being arrested by police and told law enforcement he “did it for Gaza.”

“Elias Rodriguez’s act was fully justified, at that place where legal and moral duties meet,” United of Fields said in its statement, which was signed by several far-left and anti-Israel organizations. “It is clear that international law, which the West itself established and whose institutions are dominated by the interests of these imperialists, establishes a duty to take action to stop genocide, including the use of violence to do so.”

Unity of Fields urged its followers to lend Rodriguez moral support by sending him letters, donating funds to his prison account, supporting his legal defense, and attending his court hearings. 

The DSA Liberation Caucus praised the statement as “excellent,” and called on authorities to release Rodriguez.

“Excellent statement that we are proud to add our name to. Free Elias Rodriguez and all political prisoners,” the group posted on social media.

DSA, one of the country’s premier leftist political advocacy organizations, has mobilized in recent years to elect anti-Israel members to the US Congress. Influential lawmakers such as US Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Greg Casar (D-TX), and Cori Bush (D-MO) are all current members of the socialist organization. Others such as Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Summer Lee (D-PA) are former members.

The organization also counts rising star and aspiring New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani among its ranks. Mamdani has made his anti-Israel activism a centerpiece of his mayoral campaign, accusing the Jewish state of committing “genocide” in Gaza and arguing that it does not offer “equal rights” to all of its citizens. 

The DSA has ramped up its anti-Israel rhetoric during the Gaza war. On Oct. 7, 2023, the organization issued a statement saying that Hamas’s massacre across southern Israel that day was “a direct result of Israel’s apartheid regime.” The organization also encouraged its followers to attend an Oct. 8 “All Out for Palestine” event in Manhattan.

In January 2024, the DSA issued a statement calling for an “end to diplomatic and military support of Israel.” Then in April, the organization’s international committee, DSA IC, issued a missive defending Iran’s right to “self-defense” against Israel. Iranian leaders regularly call for the Jewish state’s destruction, and Tehran has long provided Hamas with weapons and funding.

The post Democratic Socialists of America Defends Accused DC Jewish Museum Shooter Elias Rodriguez as ‘Political Prisoner’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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