On December 31, 2023, a new episode of Ha'aretz's "Ha'Shavu" podcast was released.
Ehud Olmert was a guest and stated that "we need to stop the war now and make a deal for the release of the abductees."
On the same day, an article appeared in "Al Jazeera" that covered his words - "Olmert: Israel must stop the war and release all Hamas prisoners in order to release all the hostages."
While we made every possible attempt to adopt Western culture, our enemies in the Arab countries learned Hebrew (literally) to get to know Israeli society closely, and then try to dismantle it.
This means that we are under their watchful eye all the time.
Every statement, every reservation, every dispute and every demonstration finds a place of honor in the hostile Arab media and social networks.
So beyond the desire to report on what is happening on the Israeli side in the news aspect, there is a desire to present the gaps that are tearing Israeli society apart, even during the war.
And this gives moral fuel to the Palestinians in general and to Hamas in particular.
For example, against the background of the State Comptroller's desire to investigate the army's performance in relation to the October 7 failures, the "Al Jazeera" website wrote: "A situation of suspicion and mistrust between Netanyahu and the army."
The newspaper "Al-Quds" reported that "doubts are increasing among Israeli circles regarding the feasibility and costs of the war in Gaza", among other things because of "trust in Netanyahu and his considerations".
In this context, "Al-Jazeera" distorted a tweet by the journalist Almog Booker - "That's not how you win a war."
The impression received in the article was one of failure - "Israeli journalist: we are not winning the war, the statements of the leaders indicate its end".
Another explosive issue in the Arab media is the protest of the kidnapped families.
Last week, the Egyptian "Al-Ahram" reported that "families of Israeli detainees are storming the Knesset and demanding an immediate agreement with Hamas", and that "Israeli families are blocking the streets of Ayalon in Tel Aviv demanding the release of detainees" (yes, what you read - detainees and not kidnapped).
There is also a desire to intensify the dispute in Israel regarding the terms of the deal with Hamas and to present the Israeli side as having failed in the war and in conducting the negotiations.
But the majority of the attention of the Arab media coverage is occupied by Israeli journalists' statements about the October 7 massacre.
Recently - and especially after the publication of the Hamas document "Our Narrative: Operation Al-Aqsa Flood", in which the organization explains the reasons for the outbreak of the war and denies the atrocities committed by its people - "Al Jazeera" is looking for any Israeli source that can support the Hamas position.
How can Israeli sources provide useful information to the Palestinians?
In reports and articles on various channels with us, as if some of the information published about the atrocities of the massacre is not true.
Two of these were recently published: by Yishai Cohen and by Raviv Drucker.
Cohen published an interview with an IDF officer who says that Hamas terrorists murdered children on October 7, but after a short time he had to delete it due to criticism of his unreliability. What further played into the Arab-Palestinian hands was the fact that the interview took place with the approval of the IDF spokesman.
That is, apparently, the Israeli army is deliberately spreading false news about the massacre.
Every statement, every reservation, every dispute and every demonstration finds a place of honor in the hostile Arab media and social networks
But while Cohen's case can be described as marginal, the article by 13 News journalist Raviv Drucker gained a lot of resonance.
Under the headline "Officers described horrors from the massacre - that did not happen," Drucker refuted several reports by officers and spokesmen from the IDF and the police regarding the atrocities of Hamas. "Al Jazeera" translated the article and the discussion that took place in the studio, and added its own interpretation to the words.
It is not the intention of the things here to call for the reduction of journalistic coverage of the war, but it is definitely necessary to act wisely in relation to the information that is published in our media.
We need to recognize that the enemy is listening, seeing and analyzing our every move.
Too often we provide him with tools in the propaganda and consciousness war he is waging against us.
were we wrong
We will fix it!
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