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Media Ignore Anti-Israel Rocket Attack, Focus on Israel’s Military Response
Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters through a screen during a rally commemorating the annual Hezbollah Martyrs’ Day, in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Photo: Reuters/Aziz Taher
On the morning of February 14, northern Israel was subjected to a barrage of indiscriminate rocket fire from Lebanon. Rockets reportedly landed in the city of Safed and an Israeli military base, killing a female soldier and wounding eight others.
In response to this attack, the Israeli air force undertook a “widespread” bombing campaign against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, killing several terror operatives as well as a number of Lebanese civilians.
This rocket barrage was the latest escalation in Hezbollah’s campaign against Israel, which it undertook in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 massacre in southern Israel. Due to the threat posed by the Iran-backed terror group, tens of thousands of Israeli civilians from the north have evacuated to other parts of the country.
No Quiet on Israel’s Northern Front
With all eyes on Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah has been increasingly raising tensions along Israel’s northern border. We teamed up with @Eve_Barlow to take a closer look at what’s going on at Israel’s northern front. pic.twitter.com/U4F4nPGmHV
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) February 7, 2024
Despite this latest violence stemming from the rocket barrage directed at Israel, several news outlets chose to frame the story in such a way as to portray Israel as the aggressor.
While some news outlets (like the BBC and Fox News) did properly convey the necessary information in their headlines, explaining that Israel’s airstrikes came in response to the rocket barrage earlier that day, several media organizations failed in this regard, with their headlines leaving out the vital context and turning Israel’s defensive campaign into one of aggression.
For example, The Washington Post‘s headline only mentioned Israel’s strikes in Lebanon, informing its readers that Israel was responding to a rocket barrage only in the report’s third paragraph.
As did CBS News‘ headline, which only mentioned Israel’s strikes in Lebanon. Further, their report indicated that Israel’s strikes were “raising fears of a war” between Israel and Lebanon. It would appear that only Israel’s response raises fears of war, not attacks from Hezbollah against Israel.
Reuters‘ headline only mentioned Hezbollah’s vow that Israel will “pay price” for the “deadly day.”
It took 12 paragraphs for Reuters to even mention at all that Israel’s strikes in Lebanon were in response to a rocket attack.
For its part, two Sky News headlines failed to inform its readers that Israel was bombing Lebanon in response to an earlier rocket attack.
The first read: “Israel launches wave of deadly attacks on Lebanon — as Hezbollah vows revenge” while the second headline read: “Children among 11 people killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, say security sources.”
While the sub-header for the second article did mention that Israel was responding to an earlier attack, it also used different language for each country’s casualties, claiming that Lebanese were “killed” by Israel’s strikes while an Israeli had passively “died.”
Earlier today, Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets at the northern Israeli city of Safed, killing one & wounding 8 more.
But as far as @SkyNews is concerned, Israel is the aggressor & Lebanon the victim. pic.twitter.com/JBaYmj7B9X
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) February 14, 2024
Several video reports also left out vital information, portraying Israel as the aggressor in the region.
For example, France 24 titled its report “Fears of escalation as Israel strikes hit southern Lebanon.”
Similarly, 9 News Australia’s video report was titled “Israel launches wave of air strikes in Lebanon as tensions escalate.”
The title for AFP’s clip of a State Department briefing on the clashes over Israel’s northern border not only failed to mention the initial anti-Israel rocket attack, but the barrage was also entirely missing from the video’s accompanying text.
For some news outlets, it was not the headline that was the issue as much as the content of the report itself.
For example, The Guardian‘s coverage (under the headline “Seven civilians killed in Israeli strikes on south Lebanon”) mentioned both the rocket attack from Lebanon and Israel’s strikes in Lebanon. However, it failed to inform its readers as to which occurred first, leaving them with the impression that both Israel and Hezbollah are equally to blame for tensions and violence along the border.
In its report, news agency UPI described Israel’s targeted air strikes as a “barrage of rockets,” while the indiscriminate fire directed against Israel from Lebanon was described as an “attack” and a “strike.”
Perhaps the most egregious report was filed by The Times of London, which reported two paragraphs on Israel’s strikes in Lebanon, but not a single word about the earlier barrage against Israel or the fact that an Israeli soldier had been killed in that attack.
Hey, @thetimes, how can you possibly include these paragraphs without referencing the Hezbollah rocket barrage that killed an Israeli & wounded 8 more that preceded the Israeli response?
Stop falsely portraying Israel as the initiator of the violence.https://t.co/XKbvkLXOfR pic.twitter.com/sfcYnMeLqz
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) February 15, 2024
By leaving out vital information and context from their headlines and reports, these news outlets are not only failing to inform their respective audiences properly, but they are also helping to contribute to a false narrative that leaves Hezbollah’s belligerency out of the picture and portrays Israel as the primary aggressor along its northern border.
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 Media Ignore Anti-Israel Rocket Attack, Focus on Israel’s Military Response first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students
Haredi Jewish men look at the scene of an explosion at a bus stop in Jerusalem, Israel, on Nov. 23, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Ammar Awad
Israel’s military said it would issue 54,000 call-up notices to ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students following a Supreme Court ruling mandating their conscription and amid growing pressure from reservists stretched by extended deployments.
The Supreme Court ruling last year overturned a decades-old exemption for ultra-Orthodox students, a policy established when the community comprised a far smaller segment of the population than the 13 percent it represents today.
Military service is compulsory for most Israeli Jews from the age of 18, lasting 24-32 months, with additional reserve duty in subsequent years. Members of Israel’s 21 percent Arab population are mostly exempt, though some do serve.
A statement by the military spokesperson confirmed the orders on Sunday just as local media reported legislative efforts by two ultra-Orthodox parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition to craft a compromise.
The exemption issue has grown more contentious as Israel’s armed forces in recent years have faced strains from simultaneous engagements with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, and Iran.
Ultra-Orthodox leaders in Netanyahu’s brittle coalition have voiced concerns that integrating seminary students into military units alongside secular Israelis, including women, could jeopardize their religious identity.
The military statement promised to ensure conditions that respect the ultra-Orthodox way of life and to develop additional programs to support their integration into the military. It said the notices would go out this month.
The post Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Influential Far-Right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu Over Gaza War Policy
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends an inauguration event for Israel’s new light rail line for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, in Petah Tikva, Israel, Aug. 17, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized on Sunday a cabinet decision to allow some aid into Gaza as a “grave mistake” that he said would benefit the terrorist group Hamas.
Smotrich also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to ensure that Israel’s military is following government directives in prosecuting the war against Hamas in Gaza. He said he was considering his “next steps” but stopped short of explicitly threatening to quit the coalition.
Smotrich’s comments come a day before Netanyahu is due to hold talks in Washington with President Donald Trump on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire.
“… the cabinet and the Prime Minister made a grave mistake yesterday in approving the entry of aid through a route that also benefits Hamas,” Smotrich said on X, arguing that the aid would ultimately reach the Islamist group and serve as “logistical support for the enemy during wartime”.
The Israeli government has not announced any changes to its aid policy in Gaza. Israeli media reported that the government had voted to allow additional aid to enter northern Gaza.
The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The military declined to comment.
Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe, with conditions threatening to push nearly a half a million people into famine within months, according to U.N. estimates.
Israel in May partially lifted a nearly three-month blockade on aid. Two Israeli officials said on June 27 the government had temporarily stopped aid from entering north Gaza.
PRESSURE
Public pressure in Israel is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. An Israeli team left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.
Smotrich, who in January threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionism party from the government if Israel agreed to a complete end to the war before having achieved its objectives, did not mention the ceasefire in his criticism of Netanyahu.
The right-wing coalition holds a slim parliamentary majority, although some opposition lawmakers have offered to support the government from collapsing if a ceasefire is agreed.
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Australia Police Charge Man Over Alleged Arson on Melbourne Synagogue
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Aug. 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy
Australian police have charged a man in connection with an alleged arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue with worshippers in the building, the latest in a series of incidents targeting the nation’s Jewish community.
There were no injuries to the 20 people inside the East Melbourne Synagogue, who fled from the fire on Friday night. Firefighters extinguished the blaze in the capital of Victoria state.
Australia has experienced several antisemitic incidents since the start of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023.
Counter-terrorism detectives late on Saturday arrested the 34-year-old resident of Sydney, capital of neighboring New South Wales, charging him with offenses including criminal damage by fire, police said.
“The man allegedly poured a flammable liquid on the front door of the building and set it on fire before fleeing the scene,” police said in a statement.
The suspect, whom the authorities declined to identify, was remanded in custody after his case was heard at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Sunday and no application was made for bail, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.
Authorities are investigating whether the synagogue fire was linked to a disturbance on Friday night at an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne, in which one person was arrested for hindering police.
The restaurant was extensively damaged, according to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group for Australia’s Jews.
It said the fire at the synagogue, one of Melbourne’s oldest, was set as those inside sat down to Sabbath dinner.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog went on X to “condemn outright the vile arson attack targeting Jews in Melbourne’s historic and oldest synagogue on the Sabbath, and on an Israeli restaurant where people had come to enjoy a meal together”.
“This is not the first such attack in Australia in recent months. But it must be the last,” Herzog said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the incidents as “severe hate crimes” that he viewed “with utmost gravity.” “The State of Israel will continue to stand alongside the Australian Jewish community,” Netanyahu said on X.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese late on Saturday described the alleged arson, which comes seven months after another synagogue in Melbourne was targeted by arsonists, as shocking and said those responsible should face the law’s full force.
“My Government will provide all necessary support toward this effort,” Albanese posted on X.
Homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles in Australia have been targeted by antisemitic vandalism and arson. The incidents included a fake plan by organized crime to attack a Sydney synagogue using a caravan of explosives in order to divert police resources, police said in March.
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