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A Coordinated Media Attack on Israel by The New York Times, Washington Post, and CNN

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Lenny Ben-David - The New York Times (December 21, 2023) claimed Israel's air force used U.S.-provided 2,000-pound bombs in Gaza, specifically a model that "is one of the most destructive munitions in Western military arsenals." But the Times based its analysis on the wrong bomb, a Mark-84, a bomb that explodes on impact with little penetration properties. The Washington Post (December 22, 2023), with its satellite and visual analysis, claimed that "the evidence presented by the Israeli government falls short of showing that Hamas had been using the [Shifa] hospital as a command-and-control center." CNN, following the New York Times, claimed that Israel's 2,000-pound bombs were responsible for the high casualty rate among Gazans. But it appears that CNN was also relying on data from general-use MK-84 bombs and not earth-penetrating bunker busters that explode underground. What is clear in one CNN map is that the bunker-buster bombs did not damage nearby schools or injure children, but they were deployed to destroy Hamas tunnels, which also explains why the craters were in a linear pattern as if the Israeli pilots were bombing a long stretch of tunnel. Even suggesting that the IDF sought to harm Gazan school children is a blood libel. But genuinely puzzling is why CNN had a very tiny caption that admits Israel used bunker-busting bombs that avoid explosive damage on the surface. All three media analyses relied on "weapons experts and investigators" formerly from the U.S. government, the UN, and non-governmental organizations such as Human Rights Watch. Not surprisingly, the experts are also known for their animosity to Israel. The consequences of the fraud are Members of Congress calling to cut military aid to Israel. The writer, former Deputy Chief of Staff in Israel's Washington Embassy, is Director of the Institute for U.S.-Israel Relations at the Jerusalem Center.
2023-12-28 00:00:00
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