Israel’s Channel 13 News came under heavy criticism yesterday after it headlined an evening news broadcast in a way that encouraged anti-Israel narratives.
In reporting on the Gaza airstrikes that eliminated three top Islamic Jihad terrorist leaders, Channel 13 noted that a handful of Palestinian civilians had also been killed.
The title of the report appearing on Israelis’ television screens read: “With the prime minister’s approval: Women and children were killed in tonight’s strike.”
The clear implication being that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had callously approved the airstrikes knowing there was a chance of collateral damage.
A furious backlash from Israeli viewers and politicians accused the network of making itself a local branch of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which regularly accuses Israel of war crimes.
כשדיברתי על מגוון דעות, לא התכוונתי לפתיחת סניף של ה-BDS בתוך ערוץ תקשורת ישראלי.
בקרוב, מי שחושב שהציבור בישראל מעוניין בסניף של ה- BDS, עומד להתבדות.
אפתח את השוק למגוון ולתחרות, הציבור לא יהיה שבוי בידי הערוצים הקיימים, הם יהיו שבויים שלו, והתוכן בהתאם. pic.twitter.com/YffZ7er0EN
— 🇮🇱שלמה קרעי – Shlomo Karhi (@shlomo_karhi) May 9, 2023
Channel 13 later issued an apology reading:
“The title that appeared as part of the main edition was worded inappropriately and in an incorrect and misleading manner. We apologize for this to our viewers.”
But the damage was already done. A screenshot of the inflammatory headline went viral on Arab news networks and social media as “evidence” of the alleged criminal behavior of the “Zionist regime.”
