The Israeli Media Headline That Set the Arab World on Fire

Israel’s Channel 13 forced to issue apology after playing right into the hands of the Jewish state’s enemies.

By Israel Today Staff | | Topics: arab press, Gaza
The Channel 13 title was clearly intended to embarrass Netanyahu, but further fed Arab hatred for Israel as a whole. Screenshot
The Channel 13 title was clearly intended to embarrass Netanyahu, but further fed Arab hatred for Israel as a whole. Screenshot

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.

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.”

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