The Israeli press provided us with a good lesson this week in the construction of reality in the biased and misleading media, through an unnecessary debate about an insult never made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bereaved families, with the claim Netanyahu compared their suffering to the suffering of the family of Hebron shooter Sgt. Elor Azaria. Yedioth Ahronoth outdid itself with an entire front page dedicated to the topic. "Netanyahu's infuriating comparison: I called the parents of the shooter soldier just like I call the parents whose sons fell or went missing," the headline read. Well, maybe more a simple mathematical equation than a comparison. Take a phone call, remove some words, add the word "like" -- a preposition defined as "similar to, comparable to" -- and get a headline that is at best a distortion of the truth and at worst a blatant lie. Place the entire package above the moving David Ben-Gurion quote, "May every Hebrew mother know ..." [traditionally followed by "that she has placed her sons in the care of commanders worthy of the task"] and you have drama. Someone seems to think that we, the idiots, will respond with an "Amen" when they tell us that night is day and day is night. I suggest we not let them fool us. I am of course referring to the interview Netanyahu gave to Channel 2 News' political correspondent Amit Segal. Here is the exact conversation: Segal: "Are you sorry about the conversation you had with Elor's father-" Netanyahu: "No. Not at all. ... Do you know what I told him? My exact words: Put your faith in the IDF, in the chief of staff, in the commanders, our soldiers, and in our judicial system." Segal (smirking): "Have you called other soldiers who disobeyed orders, or their parents-" Netanyahu: "No, but I have called many distressed parents, whose sons have fallen or gone missing or fallen and went missing." Does anyone see the word "like" here? No. Why? Because, quite simply, it was not said. To those who listened impartially to the interview, everything seems clear. As a matter of fact, a distinction was made by Netanyahu later on the interview, when he stressed that "in this instance, Israeli citizens are in much distress. I want you to understand that." Netanyahu added, "There are countless parents who see their children, male and female soldiers, in an almost impossible situation. On one hand, they have to protect themselves; on the other hand, they should not be too quick to pull the trigger. It is not easy. ... I have been in quite a few situations, encounters, or near encounters with an enemy, and I had to decide when to shoot and when not to shoot. It wasn't easy for an officer in [the elite reconnaissance unit] Sayeret Matkal, so I don't think it is easy for any soldier." Placing the distress of parents whose children put their lives at risk alongside the unfathomable distress of bereaved parents happened by chance, but not without reason. It should have taken more than mere malice to take Netanyahu's words out of context and coopt them into the media's lie. May every Hebrew mother know: This is disinformation.
Yedioth Ahronoth's disinformation
מערכת היום
מערכת "היום“ מפיקה ומעדכנת תכנים חדשותיים, מבזקים ופרשנויות לאורך כל שעות היממה. התוכן נערך בקפדנות, נבדק עובדתית ומוגש לציבור מתוך האמונה שהקוראים ראויים לעיתונות טובה יותר - אמינה, אובייקטיבית ועניינית.
