Israeli GPO Pleads for Media Integrity, Ethical Reporting From Foreign Press
Journalists and government officials lament threats to truth in the media: “You’re going to see a video of me someday, and it’s not going to be me. And ‘I’m going to tell you something, and it’s not going to be the truth.”
Nearly four months into the Israel-Hamas war, known as “Swords of Iron” in Israel, the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) and the evangelical Christian Friends of Zion (FOZ) heritage center hosted an event in Jerusalem for the international press. The event, titled “Israel and the Foreign Media in the October 7th War,” aimed to encourage responsible reporting, combat fake news and misinformation, and potentially shift the narrative surrounding the war.
Featured speakers included members of the Israeli government, the international press, and families of hostages kidnapped by Hamas 115 days prior, who shared their experiences and concerns.
The event’s primary message focused on three key themes. Firstly, it emphasized that the war is not just a local conflict between Israelis and Palestinians but a regional, if not global, conflict involving Western powers against Iran, Russia, and China. Dr. Mike Evans, founder and chairman of the FOZ Heritage Center, pointed to over 160 attacks on US forces by Iran and its proxies since October 7, characterizing Hamas’ actions as a “preemptive attack by Iran’s proxy.” Evans raised concerns about Iran becoming a nuclear state by the time of the US elections.
Dr. Mike Evans, founder and chair of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center speaks at the GPO-FOZ event, Jan. 29, 2024. (Aaron Poris/The Media Line)
“Why would they [Iran] fund and time this attack so significantly?” asked Evans rhetorically. “Because by the time we have US elections in November, Iran will be an atomic state. And Iran will have a nuclear umbrella shortly thereafter [with] Russian planes flying over Iranian airspace. They know this, the state of Israel knows this. So they’re trying to exhaust Israel and distract Israel from the biggest, gravest existential threat, in light of a presidential election in which the president needs the progressives and their support.”
Evans expressed explicit support for former President Donald Trump, calling him the best president for Israel in its history. He also urged support for the bombing of Kharg Island, which he alleges houses approximately 90% of Iran’s crude oil.
The second key theme—closely related to the first—highlights the conflict as an existential war between “good and evil.” Evans asserted that “the liberal left has convinced the world that the war on terror cannot be won with military action” and “appeasement has been the offshoot of self-loathing rather than believing that those who waged war against Israel on Oct. 7 are evil, they see Israel as evil for retaliating.”
Driving this point home for the audience, a panel of hostages’ families and bereaved parents shared their traumatic and ongoing experiences. Among them, Malki Shem-Tov and Sigalit “Sigi” Cohen, whose sons Omer and Elia respectively, were both kidnapped from the Nova music festival and still remain in Hamas’ captivity.
(L-R) Gideon Bayer, Malki Shem-Tov, Yoni Asher, Ofri Bibas, Sigi Cohen, panelists whose family members were taken hostage or killed by Hamas speaking at the GPO-FOZ event, Jan. 29, 2024. (Aaron Poris/The Media Line).
Also on the panel were Yoni Asher, whose wife and two young daughters were released from Hamas’ captivity in the November prisoner exchanges after nearly two months in Gaza; Gideon Bayer, an evangelical Christian man whose son, Sgt 1st Class Urija Bayer was killed fighting for the IDF; and Ofri Bibas, whose brother Yarden, Sister-in-Law Shiri, and two nephews (4-year-old Ariel and 1-year-old Kfir) have captivated global attention as one of the few whole families to be kidnapped by Hamas on October 7.
Kfir—who was just 9 months old at the time of his kidnapping—is also the youngest hostage to have been taken by the Palestinian terror organization.
As the panelists spoke, moderator Joel Rosenberg of The Rosenberg Report, and several members of the audience broke down into tears—the speakers’ stories highlighting a fraction of the personal devastation of the war.
Meanwhile, journalists on another panel at the event—moderated by Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman, deputy CEO of strategy and innovation at the Jerusalem Post Group—lamented what they considered to be an all-too-often uncritical and amoral acceptance of Hamas’ narrative in the media.
Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman, deputy CEO of strategy and innovation at the Jerusalem Post Group, moderates a panel discussion at the GPO-FOZ event, Jan. 29, 2024. (Felice Friedson/The Media Line)
Bureau Chief of CBN News in Israel and the Middle East, Chris Mitchell, described covering regional wars since the 2006 second Lebanon war, expressing surprise that the obvious narrative isn’t universally accepted.
CBN Israel Bureau Chief Chris Mitchell speaking at the GPO-FOZ event on Jan. 29, 2024. (Screenshot: GPO/YouTube)
Having covered the last 20 years of conflict, Mitchell says, “You get an idea of who’s the good guys and who’s the bad guys, and it seems pretty obvious because we’ve seen this before. This movie [October 7] is the most egregious, the worst, most horrific—but we’ve seen scenarios like this time and again. Hamas will attack, [Palestinian] Islamic Jihad will attack, Israel will respond, and they [Hamas & PIJ] will use their human shields and the people that die tragically as propaganda.”
“And yet,” Mitchell concludes, “it seems like some in the foreign media just play along with what Hamas or other terror groups have done.”
Eylon Levy, spokesperson for the Israeli National Public Diplomacy Directorate, recounted a moment when Sky News anchor Kay Burley asked him if Israel values Palestinian lives less than Israeli lives, which went viral. Levy expressed shock at implicit and explicit allegations that Israel wants the war or is needlessly prolonging it.
Eylon Levy, Israeli spokesperson for the Israeli National Public Diplomacy Directorate speaks at the GPO-FOZ event, Jan. 29, 2024. (Screenshot: GPO/YouTube)
One of the major challenges Levy says he contends with when speaking to the foreign media is “how much we don’t want this war, but how much we nevertheless have to fight and win this war. Because otherwise, there’s simply no future for this country.”
In a follow-up question, Levy, a former journalist, outlined three key points to keep in mind when interviewing: That October 7 was the opening act of war, to focus on the hostages, and highlight how Hamas has brought ruin and misery to Palestinians in Gaza.
“The world is right to be outraged and deeply hurt, and traumatized by the suffering taking place in Gaza,” Levy says. “We don’t mean to downplay it for a moment. But that suffering has an address. And that address is the brutal terror organization [Hamas] that declared a totally needless war on October 7, and which has chosen to wage that war from underneath and behind civilians.”
As for the third, and arguably most journalistically relevant theme at the GPO event—it’s that the war is a battle for truth and ethical reporting in a world of deep-fakes, fake news, and social media algorithms controlling public discourse.
IDF Foreign Media Spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht emphasized the importance of ensuring the press has unprecedented access to information about the war to counter potential distortions. Inspired by US President Eisenhower in the days after liberating Jews from the Nazi concentration camps, Hecht invited the press to Gaza border communities just three days after October 7 to witness the atrocities firsthand.
Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, IDF foreign media spokesperson, speaks at the GPO-FOZ event, Jan. 29, 2024. (Aaron Poris/The Media Line)
In his opening remarks, GPO Director Nitzan Chen quoted Mark Twain, highlighting the challenge of lies spreading faster than the truth. Speakers emphasized the need for caution in reporting. In one example, Hecht brought up the Al-Ahli hospital bombing incident, where Hamas falsely accused Israel. Despite presenting evidence that a PIJ rocket caused minimal damage, the lie persists.
Israeli GPO Director Nitzan Chen speaks at the GPO-FOZ event, Jan. 29, 2024. (Screenshot: GPO/YouTube)
Hamas has repeatedly spread false information as part of psychological operations, hoping to divide the Israeli public and gain support for ‘the resistance.’ The press hasn’t always fallen for the lies, and Israeli government coordinator for hostages and missing IDF Brig. Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsh thanked the media for their cooperation. He cited examples of requests to avoid publishing sensitive material to prevent misinformation that burdens hostage families.
Israeli government coordinator for the hostages and missing, Brig. Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch speaks at the GPO-FOZ event, Jan. 29, 2024. (Screenshot: GPO/YouTube)
More importantly, misinformation and fake news threaten global order. In a prerecorded speech, Israeli President Isaac Herzog thanked the media for shedding light on the stories of hostages and Hamas’ crimes. He emphasized the need to avoid swallowing fabrications and falsehoods. Herzog added that more people today get news from ill-informed social media influencers, posing a challenge to the free world. He advocated not allowing access to accurate reporting to depend on algorithms or the rationing of press freedom by likes and shares.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks at the GPO-FOZ event, Jan. 29, 2024. (Screenshot: GPO/YouTube)
During the press workers’ panel discussion, award-winning freelance journalist Zach Anders asserted that free speech and truthful information, cornerstones of democracy, are under attack from every angle. He expressed concerns about the role of AI and social media technology in distorting reality and advocated for a digital bill of rights to address potential threats.
Zach Anders, independent correspondent with I24 and Fox News, speaks at the GPO-FOZ event, Jan. 29, 2024. (Screenshot: GPO/YouTube)
