Thread by @Aizenberg55

🧵Claimed words by IDF spokesman Hagari: “The emphasis is on damage and not on accuracy” have been falsely quoted worldwide as proof that Israel bombs Gaza indiscriminately, part of a campaign to claim genocidal intent. HonestReporting investigated; read for detail: 1/

This 9 word snippet, offered without any context, like all Israeli “quotes” claiming to prove war crimes, were widely reported, often with extra unproven embellishment (“abandons precision bombing”) further misrepresenting what Hagari actually said and meant. 2/

Washington Post later used quote as its centerpiece evidence of the same charge, that Israel is not really trying to minimize civilian casualties. WP links to the same Oct 10 Guardian article that does not cite a source. @ishaantharoor did not bother to check its accuracy. 3/

Quote also featured in an HRW report charging Israel with “Mass Atrocities,” by groups like B’tselem (who further lies saying Hagari "stressed" this point) and voices like @mehdirhasan @OwenJones84 and many more. It is an inaccurate quote by Hagari & grossly misrepresented. 4/

Where did this quote originate? It was first reported in Haaretz on Oct 10 by @Eden_solomon1 & Yaniv Kobowitz, words in Hebrew highlighted below. The words do mean "The emphasis is on damage and not on accuracy" But Hagari DID NOT exactly say this & the context is missing. 5/

The original source is an operational briefing by Hagari in Hebrew to military reporters on Oct 10. HonestReporting obtained the transcript comprising ~2,000 words. The entire section of Hagari’s original words are shown below. The relevant words are underlined. 6/

First, Haaretz abandoned rule of quotes which should show words exactly as spoken, instead they paraphrased & shortened but still put them in quotes. World media did not bother to check. Here is the ACTUAL quote with Google translation, matching HonestReporting’s translation. 7/

What did Hagari mean? Key section he said is translated below. HonestReporting explains: “It was said in the context of the spokesperson’s remarks on Israel’s bombardment of HAMAS TARGETS in Gaza and the armaments that Israel had at its disposal to complete this task.” 8/

Hagari speaks ONLY about terrorist targets and strategy of specific armaments to destroy these targets. He says IDF "right now" focused on weaponry to maximize damage to “terrorist organizations” assets. NOT on all of Gaza or randomly dropping bombs. 9/
honestreporting.com/questionable-h…

Media dishonestly paraphrased a few words out of 2,000 spoken, grossly out of context and its clear meaning to fabricate isolated "quote" to claim Israel is randomly bombing Gaza for maximum damage and abandoning the idea of accurately hitting any target of any kind. END