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How the Presidential Debate Failed Viewers on Israel and the Gaza War
Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump points towards Democratic presidential nominee and US Vice President Kamala Harris, during a presidential debate hosted by ABC in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, Sept. 10, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
What is it about Western media journalists and legitimizing Hamas numbers and figures?
ABC broadcast journalist and Trump-Harris debate moderator Linsey Davis may appear professional and well-composed, but her coverage of Israel leaves a lot to be desire.
One of the hot-button issues brought forth in the Tuesday night debate was the candidates’ position on the Israel-Hamas war and how they would negotiate an end to it.
Davis posed the following question to Harris first:
In December you said, “Israel has a right to defend itself” but you added, “It matters how.” Saying international humanitarian law must be respected, Israel must do more to protect innocent civilians. You said that nine months ago. Now an estimated 40,000 Palestinians are dead. Nearly 100 hostages remain. Just last week Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there’s not a deal in the making. President Biden has not been able to break through the stalemate. How would you do it?
Let’s break this down, and evaluate what is inherently wrong and biased or leading about this.
The fact that Davis did not credit the 40,000 death toll figure to Hamas is obvious. She also did not make a distinction that even Western media tends to make — Hamas numbers never differentiate between civilians and terrorists. Further, after nearly a year of continued war and death, she places most of the fault on Israel rather than Hamas.
So, why is it important to clarify that these are Hamas numbers and, therefore, are unreliable?
Because Hamas, as a terror organization, has a history of inflating numbers and cannot be trusted. One example came as recently as Monday. Hamas claimed 40 dead civilians as a result of an Israeli strike. The strike targeted three senior Hamas commanders directly involved in the October 7 massacre. They were conveniently embedded in a designated humanitarian zone. However, after rolling out the initial number, Hamas later revised it to “at least 19.”
Suggesting that Israel does not do enough to protect civilians
Saying international humanitarian law must be respected, Israel must do more to protect innocent civilians. You said that nine months ago. Now an estimated 40,000 Palestinians are dead.
Let’s focus a bit more on the insinuation here.
This is a biased and misleading question. Davis is implying that Israel isn’t respecting or abiding by international humanitarian law. But it is. In fact, the IDF does more than necessary under international law.
When urban military experts like John Spencer as well as lawyers corroborate this, who is this American journalist to suggest Israel is not doing enough to prevent civilian casualties to an audience of approximately 67 million viewers?
Moreover, suggesting that the onus of civilian deaths and continuation of the war belongs to Israel alone is dangerous and despicable. What about Hamas? They could have continued the ceasefire nine months ago by releasing the rest of the hostages under the previous deal.
But they didn’t.
This could have been over long ago. Instead, negotiators have been bending over backwards and pulling teeth to close a new deal for months. Civilians on both sides continue to suffer the consequences.
Yes, civilians on both sides. That’s something often ignored, and ignored by Davis as well in the phrasing of her question. Do Gaza civilians reserve the only right to claim displacement and death? Absolutely not.
Failing to acknowledge that nearly 100,000 Israelis are still displaced since October 7, and that Israelis are still killed by either Hezbollah rockets, West Bank terror, etc. is to ignore the facts on the ground.
Israel’s hostage numbers: a minor correction
Nearly 100 hostages remain.
This estimated digit alludes to the 97 hostages left who were taken on October 7 only. While it is not incorrect in that sense, there are also four Israelis who were taken captive in 2014 and 2015 — Hadar Goldin, Avera Mengistu, Hisham al-Sayed and Oron Shaul. Two of them are still believed to be alive. This brings the real number to 101.
It’s an important distinction to make, and minimizing the number voluntarily to fit a narrative or for any other reason misleads the audience and minimizes the suffering of their families.
Is Netanyahu the reason for a ceasefire and hostage deal stalemate?
Just last week Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there’s not a deal in the making. President Biden has not been able to break through the stalemate.
False statements again.
Accusing Israel, like much of Western media, for being the hold-up to a deal. In the press conference Davis is referring to, Prime Minister Netanyahu actually said the following:
I’m willing to make a deal. The real obstacle to making a deal is not Israel and it’s not me. It [is] Hamas…. I put forward a proposal by Israel, which Secretary Blinken called extremely generous. On May 31st, having met Blinken again, I said, we agreed to the US-backed proposal, and Hamas refused. On August 16th, the US brought forth what they called the final bridging proposal. Again, we accepted, Hamas refused. On August 19th, Secretary Blinken said, Israel accepted the US proposal, now Hamas has to do the same.
Furthermore, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby recently said Hamas was the reason there is no deal — not Israel. That is the official statement of the US government, and it was ignored in the debate.
Davis’ follow-up question for Trump
President Trump, how would you negotiate with Netanyahu and also Hamas in order to get the hostages out and prevent the killing of more innocent civilians in Gaza?
By phrasing her question in this way, Davis equates Netanyahu, the prime minister of a democratic country, with a terror organization that brutally massacred 1,200 people, burned down homes, looted and raped, and took 251 women, children, the elderly, and men hostage.
Additionally, she is putting a potential US president in the position of negotiating directly with terrorists, when that is against US policy. The US generally speaks with third parties only when dealing with terror organizations like Hamas.
Bottom line: Americans deserve better from their media, and certainly from a moderator of such a high-profile debate.
The author is a contributor to 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 How the Presidential Debate Failed Viewers on Israel and the Gaza War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US House Members Ask Marco Rubio to Bar Turkey From Rejoining F-35 Program
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 10, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard
A bipartisan coalition of more than 40 US lawmakers is pressing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to prevent Turkey from rejoining the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, citing ongoing national security concerns and violations of US law.
Members of Congress on Thursday warned that lifting existing sanctions or readmitting Turkey to the US F-35 fifth-generation fighter program would “jeopardize the integrity of F-35 systems” and risk exposing sensitive US military technology to Russia. The letter pointed to Ankara’s 2017 purchase of the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system, despite repeated US warnings, as the central reason Turkey was expelled from the multibillion-dollar fighter jet program in 2019.
“The S-400 poses a direct threat to US aircraft, including the F-16 and F-35,” the lawmakers wrote. “If operated alongside these platforms, it risks exposing sensitive military technology to Russian intelligence.”
The group of signatories, spanning both parties, stressed that Turkey still possesses the Russian weapons systems and has shown “no willingness to comply with US law.” They urged Rubio and the Trump administration to uphold the Countering American Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and maintain Ankara’s exclusion from the F-35 program until the S-400s are fully removed.
The letter comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed during a NATO summit in June that Ankara and Washington have begun discussing Turkey’s readmission into the program.
Lawmakers argued that reversing course now would undermine both US credibility and allied confidence in American defense commitments. They also warned it could disrupt development of the next-generation fighter jet announced by the administration earlier this year.
“This is not a partisan issue,” the letter emphasized. “We must continue to hold allies and adversaries alike accountable when their actions threaten US interests.”
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US Lawmakers Urge Treasury to Investigate Whether Irish Bill Targeting Israel Violates Anti-Boycott Law
A pro-Hamas demonstration in Ireland led by nationalist party Sinn Fein. Photo: Reuters/Clodagh Kilcoyne
A group of US lawmakers is calling on the Treasury Department to investigate and potentially penalize Ireland over proposed legislation targeting Israeli goods, warning that the move could trigger sanctions under longstanding US anti-boycott laws.
In a letter sent on Thursday to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, 16 Republican members of Congress expressed “serious concerns” about Ireland’s recent legislative push to ban trade with territories under Israeli administration, including the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.
The letter, spearheaded by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), called for the US to “send a clear signal” that any attempts to economically isolate Israel will “carry consequences.”
The Irish measure, introduced by Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Simon Harris, seeks to prohibit the import of goods and services originating from what the legislation refers to as “occupied Palestinian territories,” including Israeli communities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Supporters say the bill aligns with international law and human rights principles, while opponents, including the signatories of the letter, characterize it as a direct extension of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel as a step toward the destruction of the world’s lone Jewish state.
Some US lawmakers have also described the Irish bill as an example of “antisemitic hate” that could risk hurting relations between Dublin and Washington.
“Such policies not only promote economic discrimination but also create legal uncertainty for US companies operating in Ireland,” the lawmakers wrote in this week’s letter, urging Bessent to determine whether Ireland’s actions qualify as participation in an “unsanctioned international boycott” under Section 999 of the Internal Revenue Code, also known as the Ribicoff Amendment.
Under that statute, the Treasury Department is required to maintain a list of countries that pressure companies to comply with international boycotts not sanctioned by the US. Inclusion on the list carries tax-reporting burdens and possible penalties for American firms and individuals doing business in those nations.
“If the criteria are met, Ireland should be added to the boycott list,” the letter said, arguing that such a step would help protect US companies from legal exposure and reaffirm American opposition to economic efforts aimed at isolating Israel.
Legal experts have argued that if the Irish bill becomes law, it could chase American capital out of the country while also hurting companies that do business with Ireland. Under US law, it is illegal for American companies to participate in boycotts of Israel backed by foreign governments. Several US states have also gone beyond federal restrictions to pass separate measures that bar companies from receiving state contracts if they boycott Israel.
Ireland has been one of the fiercest critics of Israel on the international stage since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, amid the ensuing war in Gaza, leading the Jewish state to shutter its embassy in Dublin.
Last year, Ireland officially recognized a Palestinian state, a decision that Israel described as a “reward for terrorism.”
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US Families File Lawsuit Accusing UNRWA of Supporting Hamas, Hezbollah
A truck, marked with United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) logo, crosses into Egypt from Gaza, at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, during a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah, Egypt, Nov. 27, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
American families of victims of Hamas and Hezbollah attacks have filed a lawsuit against the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, accusing the organization of violating US antiterrorism laws by providing material support to the Islamist terror groups behind the deadly assaults.
Last week, more than 200 families filed a lawsuit in a Washington, DC district court accusing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) of violating US antiterrorism laws by providing funding and support to Hamas and Hezbollah, both designated as foreign terrorist organizations.
The lawsuit alleges that UNRWA employs staff with direct ties to the Iran-backed terror group, including individuals allegedly involved in carrying out attacks against the Jewish state.
However, UNRWA has firmly denied the allegations, labeling them as “baseless” and condemning the lawsuit as “meritless, absurd, dangerous, and morally reprehensible.”
According to the organization, the lawsuit is part of a wider campaign of “misinformation and lawfare” targeting its work in the Gaza Strip, where it says Palestinians are enduring “mass, deliberate and forced starvation.”
The UN agency reports that more than 150,000 donors across the United States have supported its programs providing food, medical aid, education, and trauma assistance in the war-torn enclave amid the ongoing conflict.
In a press release, UNRWA USA affirmed that it will continue its humanitarian efforts despite facing legal challenges aimed at undermining its work.
“Starvation does not pause for politics. Neither will we,” the statement read.
Last year, Israeli security documents revealed that of UNRWA’s 13,000 employees in Gaza, 440 were actively involved in Hamas’s military operations, with 2,000 registered as Hamas operatives.
According to these documents, at least nine UNRWA employees took part directly in the terror group’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
Israeli officials also uncovered a large Hamas data center beneath UNRWA headquarters, with cables running through the facility above, and found that Hamas also stored weapons in other UNRWA sites.
The UN agency has also aligned with Hamas in efforts against the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israeli and US-backed program that delivers aid directly to Palestinians, blocking Hamas from diverting supplies for terror activities and selling them at inflated prices.
These Israeli intelligence documents also revealed that a senior Hamas leader, killed in an Israeli strike in September 2024, had served as the head of the UNRWA teachers’ union in Lebanon, where Lebanon is based,
UNRWA’s education programs have been found by IMPACT-se, an international organization that monitors global education, to contribute to the radicalization of younger generations of Palestinians.