I’m convinced that Israelis have to be made aware of the avalanche within the purview of the Israeli government, of timely, accurate, detailed intelligence data from allies and from within, in order to get the picture of how preventable the Oct 7 massacre by Hamas, was. That’s why those within Israel who’re calling for a review NOW regarding missteps, have to prevail in their push for an immediate investigation.

A timely investigation is a crucial step to break the mindset of the Israeli public towards supporting the scorched earth war tactics being practiced in Gaza under the leadership of Prime Minister Netanyahu. If they knew that the October 7, 2023 brutal massacre by Hamas was totally preventable and that their leader is lying when he vehemently denies being in receipt of an avalanche of intelligence data warning about an imminent attack by Hamas in Gaza, most would undergo an attitude adjustment.

To date, Israeli media outlets have kept most Israelis in the dark about what has been going on in Gaza.

I can only hope that the 84-page application filed by the government of South Africa at the International Court of Justice charging Israel with committing genocide in the Palestinian land of Gaza earns the worldwide, widespread news coverage that it deserves, and that some of the public news items seep into the consciousness of most civilians living in Israel who’ve been kept in the dark by current Israeli media news outlets. The hearings before the Hague began on January 11, 2024. Israel will be presenting its arguments countering the allegation of genocide around January 12th.

The following article details how Israelis have been sheltered about the devastation that’s been occurring in Gaza.

As per the January 6, 2024 Guardian report, “‘Journalists see their role as helping to win’: how Israeli TV is covering Gaza war” by Emma Graham-Harrison and Quique Kierszenbaum:

Excerpts:

“The TikTok videos feature Israeli soldiers, standing under the concrete blast barriers of a military base, in front of a rolling green landscape or beside armoured vehicles. Most are in full military gear, in settings that make clear these are men at war, with one message to their country’s journalists. “If you don’t have something unifying to say, just shut your mouth.”

“To someone who made a cursory scan of the country’s TV channels and newspapers after 7 October, the reservists’ anger might be confusing – the Israeli media have rarely presented their audiences with such a uniformly patriotic vision of reality as they have over the past three months.”

A “united we will win” slogan sits on the screen for most TV news and talk shows. Politicians face heavy criticism, but interrogations of the military, its strategies, its generals and ordinary troops are muted.”

“The suffering of Gazan civilians barely features, veteran journalists say, 3 months into an Israeli offensive that has killed more than 22,000 people, displaced nearly 2 million, and left nearly half the population on the brink of famine and stalked by disease.”

“In general, the Israeli media is drafted to the main goal of winning the war, or what looks like trying to win the war. If you want to try to find some similarities, it’s along the lines of the American media after 9/11,” said Raviv Drucker, one of Israel’s leading investigative journalists.”

“The shock was so brutal, and the trauma is so hard that journalists see their role now, or part of their role, to help the state to win the war. And part of it is showing as little as possible from the suffering in Gaza, and minimising criticism about the army.”

“Former national security adviser Eyal Hulata has described a “dome of disconnection” created by the trauma of 7 October, with Israelis isolated inside, separated from a world that does not understand their pain, and their fear that Hamas might return.”

“The disconnection goes both ways though, critics say. Israelis feel that their agony in the wake of mass murder and kidnapping is ignored, but Israeli media presents its audience with a reality in which Palestinian suffering barely exists.”

“They cover the Palestinians only in the framework of security. You hardly see any women, no kids. The spirit is that they are all Hamas,” said photographer and documentary film-maker Anat Saragusti, one of few Israeli journalists to have reported from Gaza independently of the military during past conflicts. And while that may be what viewers and the soldiers on TikTok wanted, it undermined the very state they were fighting to protect, she said.”

“I know it’s not easy, but I think the media are not doing their job,” said Saragusti, who is also press freedom director for the Union of Journalists in Israel. “It’s not about emotion, it’s about policy.”

“The majority of Israelis don’t understand how the world is suddenly against us, or why we are not the victim that should be supported, like we were on 7 October, when all the world leaders came here in convoy to show support.”

“There is information available about civilians in Gaza on smaller Israeli outlets in both Hebrew and English, but people have to seek it out, she says. Few have the time, the interest or the energy.”

“Nearly half of Israelis get their news from TV channels, one public and several private, and more than 40% use websites for a range of newspapers and digital magazines, according to the country’s statistics bureau. Just one in 10 listen to the radio. Television has been particularly influential in shaping Israeli opinion after 7 October because people follow daily live news broadcasts with a commitment reminiscent of the pre-digital era, Saragusti said.”

“For months, there was very little discussion about whether the plan to “destroy Hamas” was achievable, how military strategy was unfolding – even after Israeli troops shot hostages – or Israel’s vision for postwar Gaza, which will be its neighbour. These topics are aired more as the ground offensive drags on, and US pressure to end it grows. But Israeli audiences still knew much less about the day-to-day evolution of the war than viewers in neighbouring countries, said Rapoport.”

“Israeli military censors, who operate in every TV studio and newsroom, have decided to give away very little detail about progress on the ground. Videos from Gaza tend to be close cropped, and often show only the aftermath of engagement. Arabic speakers, by contrast, can go to Al Jazeera to see detailed maps, showing where Israeli troops hold ground and where Hamas is still fighting. And though Hamas may be generous with post-production, the videos that they regularly publish from Gaza give much more sense of how battles unfold on the ground.”

“If programming and editorial decisions have minimised civilian suffering in Gaza, commentators and interviewees have gone a step further. TV, radio and newspapers have been used to make explicit calls for the mass murder and expulsion of Palestinians in Gaza, which prominent Israelis have warned constitute the crime of incitement to genocide.”

“One of the cases they cite is Zvi Yehezkeli, commentator on Arab affairs for channel 13, who said on air that Israel should have started the war by killing 100,000 Gazans. “I know that those 100,000 will not all be Hamas members,” he said, after estimating the armed group at 20,000 strong.”

“The anchor challenged him, asking “Do you really want to kill 100,000 people?” but Yehezkeli doubled down and has not faced any official sanctions from the channel, or prosecution from authorities.”

“By making mass murder a legitimate topic for debate between journalists, that debate “crossed red lines in a very unforgivable way”, Rapoport said. “It’s not everyone, but it is being allowed, tolerated, and this creates an atmosphere where you can have a discussion [on the topic] ‘Should we kill 100,000 Gazans or not?’ You are for, I am against, and we have a discussion.”