🧵1/ Haaretz has a serious problem. Online antisemitic influencers are smitten with the Haaretz English Edition that produces a steady stream of pithy headlines and radical opinion pieces that confirm their seething hatred of Jews and Israel.
2/ Unlike its news-focused Hebrew version, Haaretz English is used to elevate opinions & editorials that make generous use of terms like “apartheid,” “ethnic cleansing,” “genocide” & “fascism.”
And unlike Al Jazeera, Haaretz carries the imprimatur of a serious news source.
3/ Its news journalists then report in all seriousness how Israeli academics, artists, athletes and businesses face boycotts and sanctions with bogus claims of Israeli terrorism, fascism, apartheid and genocide.
4/ Haaretz seeks influence, not by expanding its tiny local audience (4.5% of readers), but by catering to a foreign audience of policy makers, journalists, activists & NGOs that it hopes will force Israel to change.
Here is the publisher in his own words:
5/ No other country in the world has a national paper whose greatest influence is on its own detractors abroad.
With its tabloid headlines & fringe opinions, Haaretz English feeds a distorted narrative eagerly seized upon and propagated by the Israel's enemies.
6/ Its influence is considerable, serving as an essential source for Wikipedia entries like this which describes the death of 1,195 Israelis on Oct 7 as the result of the “Hannibal Directive.” All three references here rely on the same Haaretz article that never named a source.
7/ Of course, sometimes antisemites and anti-Zionists deliberately misconstrue Haaretz headlines. But just as often the headlines are completely indistinguishable from that of anti-Israel propagandists.
8/ Haaretz Editors even tweak the English headlines to maximize the outrage. The Haaretz Hebrew reads “Settlers in the West Bank See What’s Happening in Gaza, and are Jealous.” Yet the Haaretz headline casts this aspersion over all of “Israel,” not a certain group of extremists.
9/ It’s not that Haaretz prints fringe views, but that it features them so prominently. Simultaneous screenshots prove the point. The first article in English is from a BDS advocate, while the Hebrew Edition sticks to the proper news its Hebrew readership expects.
10/ Also, unlike Haaretz Hebrew, Haaretz English publishes guest pieces from virulent anti-Zionists barred from stepping foot in Israel, including Zachary Foster and co-founder of Jewish Voice for Peace, Simone Zimmerman. Both consider Israel a terrorist, “genocidal state.”
11/ It should surprise no one that a notorious antisemite like Candace Owens is a proud Haaretz English subscriber. Everyone knows that “hate sells.” Haaretz is proving that “self-hate” can sell just as well.
12/ Haaretz English knows its content attracts antisemites. It demanded a retraction from Jackson Hinkle who quoted a Haaretz report extensively, and also published an opinion piece against Max Blumenthal for cherry-picking quotes from Haaretz reporting.
13/ It’s both reasonable and necessary to report on our imperfect country. Haaretz challenges mainstream assumptions, is a vociferous critic of government, an important defender of individual rights, and a relentless opponent of settler extremists. But it often gets carried away.
14/ It’s also not self-critical. For all its valid criticism of Netanyahu, Haaretz supported his policy of transferring Qatari cash to Gaza, referred to Hamas leadership as the “responsible adult,” and called for direct negotiations with terrorist group 14 months before Oct 7.
16/ It’s still a gross mischaracterization to label Haaretz "antisemitic." Haaretz publishes in Hebrew, delves into Jewish history and archeology, celebrates Israeli art, culture, and science, covers global antisemitism, and calls out Islamic terrorism.
17/ But as Peter Beinart says, “every day Haaretz publishes something that qualifies as antisemitism under the IHRA definition.” They do so with the naïve hope readers will identify with a deeply frustrated Israeli left that is desperate for change, not for Israel’s destruction.
18/ There is nothing more Jewish than feeling ashamed of another Jew’s behavior, and nothing more antisemitic than exploiting ashamed Jews’ self-loathing for their own nefarious purposes. Haaretz knows that it provides fodder for antisemites, which is why I am so angry.
19/I’m calling on other subscribers to similarly express their deep disappointment with Haaretz’s sensationalist English headlines aimed not at those who care about Israel and how they might improve it, but at those who yearn for its failure and demise. Enough!
20/20 Israel needs independent journalism that holds up a mirror to us, but not a paper that mirrors Al Jazeera. Boycotting Haaretz only gives them the international attention they seek. If pressure is to change the editorial tactics, it must come from its subscriber base.
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