Israeli media MUST stop perpetuating the modern blood libel

The blood libel needs to be stopped. And Israeli media needs to play a role. The canard, the lie, has been spread so often that it is now often accepted and stated as fact. A recent “Call for Moral Clarity” by far-left, mostly diaspora Jews and spear-headed by Rabbi Yosef Blau included the following: “Meanwhile, in Yehuda and Shomron (the West Bank), extremist settler violence has resulted in the murder of civilians…” Their accepting of this blood libel is partially due to the irresponsible reporting of the Israeli media. And it is not only the notoriously far-left Haaretz. The Jerusalem Post, which prides itself on being a Zionist paper, has a recent example that highlights the problem.

On July 28, 2025, a violent confrontation took place between Jews and Arabs in the southern Hebron Hills. By the end of the incident one of the Arabs was dead. It is instructive how this was reported in the media and what actually seems to have transpired. Immediately, Arab and leftist activists reported to a world media eager to condemn “settler violence” that a “settler” had indiscriminately opened fire on a group of peaceful Arabs, amongst whom was Awdah Hathaleen, a “peace activist” who was shot and died.

The facts are that Hathaleen and the other Arabs were not engaged in a peaceful protest. They were a violent group of rioters who were throwing stones at legal Israeli construction workers and had already shattered the windows of the excavator. One of the workers, who felt his life was in danger, fired, at least some of the shots being warning shots in the air. After the Arab was killed, the shooter was arrested and brought before a judge who declared that even the police admit the lives of the Jews were in danger, as supported by unbiased witnesses and testimony of other Arabs. Furthermore, it is not even clear that the bullet that killed Hathaleen was fired by the accused. But the media, that already assumes “settler violence” and “innocent Arabs”, lapped up the lie and within a short time disseminated it worldwide. The lie had become “fact”.

At a minimum, it would be hoped that Israeli media, at least a Zionist paper, would set the record straight. Unfortunately, this blood libel is so well-entrenched that the Jerusalem Post failed miserably in this case.

How did the Jerusalem Post cover it? A week after the incident, on Thursday, August 7th, the Jerusalem Post (p. 7) ran an article entitled “Family of Palestinian Activist fights to get his body”, or in the online version “Death of Palestinian peace activist by Israeli settler sparks protest by family over body custody”. The article simply parroted the lies of the Arabs and anti-Israel activists without doing even the most basic investigating.

The article was reporting on events from a week prior, with a small addition regarding the disposition of the terrorist’s body, and thus should have had no problem gathering accurate facts. Instead, the article states as facts numerous items that are unsupported or blatant lies. It fails to mention that there was already a court hearing regarding the incident. The article claims that Yinon Levi “shot and killed” the Arab. In fact, the police now say there is no evidence his bullet hit the Arab. The dead is described as a “peace activist” known for “his actions in nonviolent resistance”. The police have confirmed, and the court agreed, that at least in this incident, this “peace activist” was anything but peaceful and non-violent; in this incident he was involved with dozens of rioters, hurling stones, and literally threatening the lives of the Israelis, who fired in self-defense.

The Jerusalem Post reporter spoke to Khalil, the brother of the dead terrorist, but there is no indication that the reporter had spoken to Levi (the accused Jew), or his lawyers or even read the court documents. Why only report on the (now-known-to-be-false) Arab narrative? Nor did the article mention why the body was being held by Israeli authorities. The reason was because the friends of the deceased had shown themselves to be violent, and Israeli authorities were attempting to prevent another violent confrontation during the funeral and mourning. Statements accusing the Israeli are stated as fact, while Levi’s version (which is now supported by the police, judge, and video evidence) are placed in quotes.

The thrust of the article should have been about how a small group of Israelis who were legally engaged in construction were miraculously saved from a near lynch. Instead, the article continues to propagate a false narrative, a contemporary blood libel, against Israel and Israelis.

But it didn’t end there. The very next day (Friday, August 8), the Jerusalem Post essentially re-ran the slanted, biased, article from the previous day, but increased its exposure by moving it up to p. 2 and added one new fact – that the body had been released. The article again claimed that an “extremist settler” indiscriminately shot dead a “Palestinian activist”. Again, nowhere did it mention that the police, a judge, and the accused Jew all asserted that said Arab was participating in a riot, throwing stones, and literally threatening the lives of the Jewish workers. The false anti-Semitic blood libel was simply repeated. The fact that Levi was released from custody was attributed to “media”, rather than the Post checking with the police or courts. And this was the second day in a row this trashy anti-Israel article was run.

Where is the serious reporting? Where is the rejection of anti-Israel propaganda? It is disturbing enough when the likes of the NY Times and BBC shamefully propagate and promote anti-Israel sentiment with poor reporting and falsehoods. But we expect more responsible journalism from the Israeli media.