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When Journalists Spread Social Media Disinformation to Attack Israel

Beit Hanoun, Gaza Strip, March 5, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Al-Basos

News consumers were told about inflammatory leaflets that Israel dropped on Gaza last Wednesday night.

According to reports by ABC and the The Telegraph, the leaflets stated that “The world map will not change if all the people of Gaza vanish.” An online post by a Washington Post columnist charged that the flyer constitutes “genocidal intent.”

Their evidence? Social media said so.

It might not be a surprise, then, that the two news outlets later walk backed their claims, while the Post columnist, Shadi Hamid, quietly deleted his post on X.com.

The ABC article now opens with an editors’ note: “An earlier version of this article said that the IDF had dropped leaflets with disturbing messaging. ABC News has not been able to confirm the authenticity of these leaflets. The IDF denies dropping these leaflets.”

The Telegraph, too, deleted its claim. Its piece now states, “It was reported earlier that Israel had dropped leaflets on Gaza,” and that “The IDF has denied this.”

Not only did Israeli officials deny the authenticity of the leaflet, but the photo shared by so many social media users, of a leaflet purportedly dropped over the last week in Gaza, was the exact same photo posted a month ago. And already then, Israel had denied responsibility for the leaflet.

The media retractions didn’t come in time to stop the spread. Haaretz, for example, extensively quoted from ABC’s own extensive quotes of the flyer. (It later added a paragraph reporting on the ABC editor’s note, but it didn’t change its text and didn’t acknowledge that ABC had actually withdrawn its claim.)

Meanwhile, the claim was echoed in the British Parliament. During a March 20 debate at the House of Commons, Conservative Party politician Kit Malthouse told his peers: “Of course it’s been reported that leaflets were dropped across Gaza last night threatening extermination.” And yet another echo, as the media then reported on Malthouse’s charges.

 

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Israel did drop a different leaflet over Gaza –the standard variety calling on Palestinians in a combat zones to evacuate for their own safety. Ironically, even as Israel was attacked as dropping a leaflet it didn’t drop, Al Jazeera accused the country of failing to drop the leaflets that it did, in fact, drop.

Echoes of Amsterdam

This is hardly the first time the media rushed to accept and amplify anti-Israel disinformation from social media.

As Jews and Israelis were being attacked in Amsterdam last November, an anonymous X.com user posted video purportedly showing “an Amsterdam taxi driver attacked and abused” by Israelis.

His allegation was echoed not only by a collection of anti-Israel social media users (including a Guardian columnist) — but also by the Dutch media network RTL News. From RTL, it spread to USA Today, Reuters, Yahoo News, the Jewish Chronicle, and others.

 

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The viral clip was scrubbed of its audio. As it had to be — in the unedited footage, the attackers are heard shouting “Palestine!” while the victims, after picking themselves up from the ground, speak to each other in Hebrew. In other words, this wasn’t an attack by Israelis on taxi drivers but the opposite: An assault against Israelis by taxi drivers.

Instead of filtering out social media’s disinformation about anti-Jewish violence, journalists worked to spread it. (To be fair, it was also journalists who exposed RTL’s falsehood.)

Other bad actors on social media posted a mistranslated clip that they falsely claimed showed Israelis in Amsterdam singing gleefully about child casualties in Gaza. As with the mischaracterized clip of the assault, the purpose was to justify the Amsterdam “Jew hunt.” And here, too, news outlets that have elsewhere warned about social media disinformation acted to uncritically spread it. The New York Times, the Guardian, and others told their readers about the non-existent video. Only after CAMERA challenged them to produce evidence did they admit they had seen no such footage.

Social media will inevitably be used as an accelerant for misinformation. Responsible journalism would help stop the spread — if only that were inevitable.

Gilead Ini is a Senior Research Analyst at CAMERA, the foremost media watchdog organization focused on coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

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Brooklyn Nets Select Israeli Basketball Players Ben Saraf, Danny Wolf in NBA Draft

The opening tip between the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards, at Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, New York, Dec. 13, 2020. Photo: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

In a landmark night for Israeli basketball, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf were selected in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft by the Brooklyn Nets, marking the first time two Israeli players have been drafted in the same year.

Saraf, a 19-year-old guard known for his explosive athleticism and creative playmaking, was taken with the 26th pick. A standout with Maccabi Rishon LeZion and a rising star on Israel’s youth national teams, Saraf gained international attention with his electrifying scoring and commanding court presence.

With the 27th pick, the Nets selected 7-foot center Danny Wolf out of the University of Michigan. Wolf, who holds dual US-Israeli citizenship and represented Israel at the U-20 level, brings a versatile skill set, including sharp passing, perimeter shooting, and a strong feel for the game. After his name was called, Wolf grew emotional in an on-air interview, crediting his family for helping him reach the moment.

“I have the two greatest brothers in the world; I have an unbelievable sister who I love,” Wolf said. “They all helped me get to where I am today, and they’re going to help me get to where I am going to go in this league.”

The historic double-pick adds to the growing wave of Israeli presence on the NBA stage, led by Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija, who just completed a breakout 2024–25 season. After being traded to Portland last summer, Avdija thrived as a starter, averaging 16.9 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.8 assists. In March alone, he posted 23.4 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game, including two triple-doubles.

“I don’t think I’ve played like this before … I knew I had it in me. But I’m not really thinking about it. I’m just playing. I’m just free,” Avdija told reporters in March

With Saraf and Wolf joining Avdija, Israel’s basketball pipeline has reached unprecedented visibility. Israeli President Isaac Herzog called the moment “a national celebration for sports and youth,” and Israeli sports commentators widely hailed the night as “historic.”

Both Saraf and Wolf are expected to suit up for the Nets’ Summer League team in July. As the two rookies begin their NBA journey, they join a growing generation of Israeli athletes proving that their game belongs on basketball’s biggest stage.

The post Brooklyn Nets Select Israeli Basketball Players Ben Saraf, Danny Wolf in NBA Draft first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Iran Denies Any Meeting With US Next Week, Foreign Minister Says

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a press conference following a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, April 18, 2025. Photo: Tatyana Makeyeva/Pool via REUTERS

Iran currently has no plan to meet with the United States, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday in an interview on state TV, contradicting US President Donald Trump’s statement that Washington planned to have talks with Iran next week.

The Iranian foreign minister said Tehran was assessing whether talks with the US were in its interest, following five previous rounds of negotiations that were cut short by Israel and the US attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The US and Israel said the strikes were meant to curb Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons, while Iran says its nuclear program is solely geared toward civilian use.

Araqchi said the damages to nuclear sites “were not little” and that relevant authorities were figuring out the new realities of Iran’s nuclear program, which he said would inform Iran’s future diplomatic stance.

The post Iran Denies Any Meeting With US Next Week, Foreign Minister Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Ireland Becomes First European Nation to Advance Ban on Trade With Israeli Settlements

A pro-Hamas demonstration in Ireland led by nationalist party Sinn Fein. Photo: Reuters/Clodagh Kilcoyne

Ireland has become the first European nation to push forward legislation banning trade with Israeli communities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem — an effort officials say is meant “to address the horrifying situation” in the Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday, Irish Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Simon Harris announced that the legislation has already been approved by the government and will now move to the parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade for pre-legislative scrutiny.

“Ireland is speaking up and speaking out against the genocidal activity in Gaza,” Harris said during a press conference.

The Irish diplomat also told reporters he hopes the “real benefit” of the legislation will be to encourage other countries to follow suit, “because it is important that every country uses every lever at its disposal.”

Joining a growing number of EU member states aiming to curb Israel’s defensive campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, Ireland’s decision comes after a 2024 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared Israel’s presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem illegal.

The ICJ ruled that third countries must avoid trade or investment that supports “the illegal situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

Once implemented, the law will criminalize the importation of goods from Israeli settlements into Ireland, empowering customs officials to inspect, seize, and confiscate any such shipments.

“The situation in Palestine remains a matter of deep public concern,” Harris said. “I have made it consistently clear that this government will use all levers at its disposal to address the horrifying situation on the ground and to contribute to long-term efforts to achieve a sustainable peace on the basis of the two-state solution.”

“Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are illegal and threaten the viability of the two-state solution,” the Irish diplomat continued. “This is the longstanding position of the European Union and our international partners. Furthermore, this is the clear position under international law.”

Harris also urged the EU to comply with the ICJ’s ruling by taking a more decisive and “adequate response” regarding imports from Israeli settlements.

“This is an issue that I will continue to press at EU level, and I reiterated my call for concrete proposals from the European Commission at the Foreign Affairs Council this week,” he said.

Last week, Ireland and eight other EU member states — Finland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden — called on the European Commission to draft proposals for how EU countries can halt trade and imports with Israeli settlements, in line with obligations set out by the ICJ.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned the latest move by European countries, calling it “shameful” and a misguided attempt to undermine Israel while it faces “existential” threats from Iran and its proxies, including Hamas.

“It is regrettable that even when Israel is fighting an existential threat which is in Europe’s vital interest — there are those who can’t resist their anti-Israeli obsession,” the top Israeli diplomat said in a post on X.

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