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How Western Media Have Aided the Iranian Regime’s Attacks on Israel
A rescue personnel works at an impact site following missile attack from Iran on Israel, in Rishon LeZion, Israel, June 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Knesset member Azmi Bishara fled Israel dramatically in 2007 to avoid prosecution for accepting payment in exchange for giving Hezbollah information about strategic locations in Israel to target during the previous year’s Second Lebanon War.
Bishara was caught advising the Iranian-backed terror group on how to aim its rockets more accurately to hit substantial targets in the very country where he served as a member of parliament.
Eighteen years later, no Bishara is needed.
Today, if Iran’s leaders want to assess the effectiveness of their attacks, all they have to do is turn on the television or go online. Since Iranian-backed Hamas launched the current war against Israel with its October 7, 2023, massacre, media outlets have repeatedly abetted Israel’s enemies by reporting from the scenes of attacks.
That violation of decades-old Israeli military censorship policies has only intensified during Iran’s current wave of strikes on Israeli military and civilian targets.
It began on Saturday, when Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst revealed live on air that Hamas had hit a Tel Aviv apartment building near the Kirya military base, which he described as “Israel’s version of the Pentagon.”
After a warning from the Government Press Office, Yingst became more cautious, reporting more generally from “central Israel.”
The Atlantic’s Jeff Goldberg had the decency to wait before publishing his exclusive on the US military op against the Houthis, in order not to risk American lives.@TreyYingst exposed realtime intel to the Iranian regime, putting Israeli lives in jeopardy, just for his scoop. https://t.co/klRM3FDVeS
— Simon Plosker (@SimonPlosker) June 14, 2025
Then, on Sunday, a group of cameramen broadcast for well over an hour from the power plant at the Haifa oil refinery — another highly sensitive site that had been struck by an Iranian ballistic missile. Al Jazeera used the footage.
When police approached the cameramen, it turned out they weren’t actually working for Al Jazeera. As a result, their equipment could not legally be confiscated, due to a law passed last year that bans the Qatari state-run propaganda outlet from operating in Israel. Al Jazeera has used freelancers to circumvent the ban, staying one step ahead of Israeli legislators in a game of cat and mouse.
But the cameramen, like all journalists in Israel, are still bound by military censorship laws that prohibit the publication of sensitive security information that could aid Israel’s enemies or endanger civilians.
“It has come to our attention that certain members of the press are filming sensitive and restricted areas following missile impacts, despite clear and repeated instructions from law enforcement officers on site, as well as prior directives issued by the Military Censor,” read a police statement released in English. “Such actions are both unlawful and irresponsible. They endanger public safety, disrupt emergency operations, and may unintentionally assist hostile actors.”
Police emphasized that the guidelines issued to the media are legally binding and intended to protect lives, preserve operational security, and ensure coordinated emergency response.
“We call on all journalists and media outlets to demonstrate responsibility and uphold the law,” the statement continued. “Those who choose to violate these restrictions will be held fully accountable in accordance with the law.”
The laws were reiterated in a letter sent to the Foreign Press Association on Monday.
Censorship remains unpopular in democratic societies. It is seen as a violation of free speech and a relic of a bygone era. Israel’s censorship law was enacted in 1966, when the country was smaller and media outlets operated under very different conditions.
But the policy remains in place because it saves lives. That’s especially true now, in the midst of a high-stakes Israeli operation aimed at preventing the Islamic Republic from acquiring nuclear weapons and fulfilling its goal of annihilating the Jewish State.
On Monday, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote to S., the new interim head of the Shin Bet security service, urging action against media outlets that violate censorship laws and pledging police assistance.
If the controversial Ben-Gvir, who has taken an uncharacteristically low profile in the current fight against Iran, moves to have a journalist arrested, it would almost certainly draw negative coverage. Israel has already been condemned internationally for bombing the headquarters of IRIB, the Iranian regime’s state broadcaster.
That strike occurred while anchorwoman Sahar Emami was live on air, pointing her finger at what she called “Iran’s aggressors.”
Moment Israel’s air strike hit Iran’s state broadcaster, IRIB. Iranian presenter Sahar Emami was on air when one of the studios got hit.
The attack followed an evacuation warning issued by Israel for Tehran’s upscale District 3, a densely populated area. pic.twitter.com/zuJx2tC7qI
— Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (@RFERL) June 16, 2025
The IDF responded by stating that the communications center was being used for military purposes by the Iranian regime, and that the strike took place an hour after Israel issued a warning to evacuate the area of Tehran where the station is located.
But the strike had further justification. IRIB, along with its English-language counterpart Press TV, serves as the propaganda arm of the Iranian regime. It disseminates disinformation, suppresses domestic dissent, and incites attacks against Israel by Iran and its proxies.
These broadcasters are an integral part of the Iranian war machine, just as Hitler’s propagandists were during World War II.
The global battle over the narrative will determine the outcome of this war, just as much as what unfolds on its seven military fronts.
And on both the military and media battlefields, Israel cannot afford to lose.
The author is the Executive 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 How Western Media Have Aided the Iranian Regime’s Attacks on Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Eyes Bringing Azerbaijan, Central Asian Nations into Abraham Accords, Sources Say
US President Donald Trump points a finger as he delivers remarks in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC, US, July 31, 2025. Photo: Kent Nishimura via Reuters Connect
President Donald Trump’s administration is actively discussing with Azerbaijan the possibility of bringing that nation and some Central Asian allies into the Abraham Accords, hoping to deepen their existing ties with Israel, according to five sources with knowledge of the matter.
As part of the Abraham Accords, inked in 2020 and 2021 during Trump’s first term in office, four Muslim-majority countries agreed to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel after US mediation.
Azerbaijan and every country in Central Asia, by contrast, already have longstanding relations with Israel, meaning that an expansion of the accords to include them would largely be symbolic, focusing on strengthening ties in areas like trade and military cooperation, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Such an expansion would reflect Trump’s openness to pacts that are less ambitious than his administration’s goal to convince regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia to restore ties with Israel while war rages in Gaza.
The kingdom has repeatedly said it would not recognize Israel without steps towards Israeli recognition of a Palestinian state.
Another key sticking point is Azerbaijan’s conflict with its neighbor Armenia, since the Trump administration considers a peace deal between the two Caucasus nations as a precondition to join the Abraham Accords, three sources said.
While Trump officials have publicly floated several potential entrants into the accords, the talks centered on Azerbaijan are among the most structured and serious, the sources said. Two of the sources argued a deal could be reached within months or even weeks.
Trump’s special envoy for peace missions, Steve Witkoff, traveled to Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, in March to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Aryeh Lightstone, a key Witkoff aide, met Aliyev later in the spring in part to discuss the Abraham Accords, three of the sources said.
As part of the discussions, Azerbaijani officials have contacted officials in Central Asian nations, including in nearby Kazakhstan, to gauge their interest in a broader Abraham Accords expansion, those sources said. It was not clear which other countries in Central Asia – which includes Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan – were contacted.
The State Department, asked for comment, did not discuss specific countries, but said expanding the accords has been one of the key objectives of Trump. “We are working to get more countries to join,” said a US official.
The Azerbaijani government declined to comment.
The White House, the Israeli foreign ministry and the Kazakhstani embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
Any new accords would not modify the previous Abraham Accords deals signed by Israel.
OBSTACLES REMAIN
The original Abraham Accords – inked between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan – were centered on restoration of ties. The second round of expansion appears to be morphing into a broader mechanism designed to expand US and Israeli soft power.
Wedged between Russia to the north and Iran to the south, Azerbaijan occupies a critical link in trade flows between Central Asia and the West. The Caucasus and Central Asia are also rich in natural resources, including oil and gas, prompting various major powers to compete for influence in the region.
Expanding the accords to nations that already have diplomatic relations with Israel may also be a means of delivering symbolic wins to a president who is known to talk up even relatively small victories.
Two sources described the discussions involving Central Asia as embryonic – but the discussions with Azerbaijan as relatively advanced.
But challenges remain and there is no guarantee a deal will be reached, particularly with slow progress in talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The two countries, which both won independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, have been at loggerheads since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh – an Azerbaijani region that had a mostly ethnic-Armenian population – broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia.
In 2023, Azerbaijan retook Karabakh, prompting about 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia. Both sides have since said they want to sign a treaty on a formal end to the conflict.
Primarily Christian Armenia and the US have close ties, and the Trump administration is wary of taking action that could upset authorities in Yerevan.
Still, US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump himself, have argued that a peace deal between those two nations is near.
“Armenia and Azerbaijan, we worked magic there,” Trump told reporters earlier in July. “And it’s pretty close.”
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Trump Reaffirms Support for Morocco’s Sovereignty Over Western Sahara
A Polisario fighter sits on a rock at a forward base, on the outskirts of Tifariti, Western Sahara, Sept. 9, 2016. Photo: Reuters / Zohra Bensemra / File.
US President Donald Trump has reaffirmed support for Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, saying a Moroccan autonomy plan for the territory was the sole solution to the disputed region, state news agency MAP said on Saturday.
The long-frozen conflict pits Morocco, which considers the territory as its own, against the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which seeks an independent state there.
Trump at the end of his first term in office recognized the Moroccan claims to Western Sahara, which has phosphate reserves and rich fishing grounds, as part of a deal under which Morocco agreed to normalize its relations with Israel.
His secretary of state, Marco Rubio, made clear in April that support for Morocco on the issue remained US policy, but these were Trump’s first quoted remarks on the dispute during his second term.
“I also reiterate that the United States recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and supports Morocco’s serious, credible and realistic autonomy proposal as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute,” MAP quoted Trump as saying in a message to Morocco’s King Mohammed VI.
“Together we are advancing shared priorities for peace and security in the region, including by building on the Abraham Accords, combating terrorism and expanding commercial cooperation,” Trump said.
As part of the Abraham Accords signed during Trump’s first term, four Muslim-majority countries agreed to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel after US mediation.
In June this year, Britain became the third permanent member of the U.N. Security Council to back an autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty for the territory after the U.S. and France.
Algeria, which has recognized the self-declared Sahrawi Republic, has refused to take part in roundtables convened by the U.N. envoy to Western Sahara and insists on holding a referendum with independence as an option.
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Israel Says Its Missions in UAE Remain Open Despite Reported Security Threats
President Isaac Herzog meets on Dec. 5, 2022, with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi. Photo: GPO/Amos Ben Gershom
i24 News – Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that its missions to the United Arab Emirates are open on Friday and representatives continue to operate at the embassy in Abu Dhabi and the consulate in Dubai in cooperation with local authorities.
This includes, the statement underlined, ensuring the protection of Israeli diplomats.
On Thursday, reports appeared in Israeli media that Israel was evacuating most of its diplomatic staff in the UAE after the National Security Council heightened its travel warning for Israelis staying in the Gulf country for fear of an Iranian or Iran-sponsored attacks.
“We are emphasizing this travel warning given our understanding that terrorist organizations (the Iranians, Hamas, Hezbollah and Global Jihad) are increasing their efforts to harm Israel,” the NSC said in a statement.
After signing the Abraham Accords with Israel in 2020, the UAE has been among the closest regional allies of the Jewish state.
Israel is concerned about its citizens and diplomats being targeted in retaliatory attacks following its 12-day war against Iran last month.
Earlier this year, the UAE sentenced three citizens of Uzbekistan to death for last year’s murder of Israeli-Moldovan rabbi Zvi Cohen.