Late Thursday evening, news broke: Hamas and Israel had agreed to a deal for the release of hostages and a ceasefire. On Monday, the 20 living hostages kept in Gaza returned to Israel. From here negotiations will continue. And there is hope—if not certainty—of a permanent end to the current war.
But go back to that moment last week.
How did you hear about the potential end to the war? I looked down at my phone, which began flashing. For many Americans, this is the way we have seen the war play out: online. How often have you looked down at your phone—or pulled up an article on your computer—and seen, over the last two plus years, horror? Those images have changed Americans' understanding of Israel and Palestine. The world has been altered by the reporting from Gaza during the bombing and suffering that followed the October 7 attack. Here in the US there is now broad support for policies that would be unthinkable even a few years ago, like the stopping of arms shipments to Israel. At the same time, many have looked in on Israel’s population with frustration or confusion. Social media clips come out showing some Israelis celebrating death. Or there are polls showing broad support for the campaign in Gaza. Some wonder: How can they not see what we have?
Today we published a story explaining a piece of why: the media in Israel.
As Moran Barkai and Paul Tullis reported, the Israeli media has rarely shown images from Gaza, and, over the past two years, has often been complicit in delivering the message of the Israeli government.
How—and why—this happened is much more complicated than you might think. It goes beyond simple patriotism or trauma. Please give the piece a read to understand what it has been like to watch TV and read the news in Israel during the war—and how it shapes our world.
—Jacob Rosenberg
P.S. The latest from our friends at Reveal: Haitian immigrants moved to Colorado on the promise of a good job and a place to stay—only to be mistreated. Now, they could be deported. Check out an update from the episode "Immigrants on the Line."
