OpEd: America’s major media is biased against Israel

By Steve Kramer

Steve Kramer

KFAR SAVA, Israel —Too many American Jews are ignorant about what’s really going on in Israel. They think they are better equipped to determine Israel’s fate than Israelis are. I know where that comes from: “fake news” about Israel from the mass media. The majority of U.S. liberal Jews truly believe that the Palestinian Arabs want a 2-state solution, notwithstanding the fact that the Palestinian Arabs consistently declare that they want ALL of Israel, minus the Jews, not a “state living side by side in peace with Israel.” According to the Arabs, whose nations all enshrine Islam as the state religion, a Jewish State of Israel is not a possibility. 

Palestine Authority President (PA) Mahmoud Abbas: “The Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, or Christian who will relinquish one inch of Jerusalem has not been born and will never be born.” (Official PA TV, 4/18, translation by Palestinian Media Watch) That, combined with their extreme unwillingness to stop inciting and supporting terrorism equals a total rejection of the 2-state solution. 
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar: “Rather than considering recognition of the Jewish State, the discussion now is about when we will wipe out Israel,” the Hamas leader affirmed in comments directed to President Trump. (https://unitedwithisrael.org 10/17)
These are only a few of innumerable, constant, intransigent statements by the PA and Hamas (terrorist rulers of Gaza) negating the notion of peace with Israel and its Jews. It’s not difficult to grasp what the Palestinian Arabs insist on, unless one has a delusional idea that leaves no room for alternative solutions. Regardless of what the Palestinian Arabs insist on and continually say, (many) American Jews, EU leaders, and UN diplomats “know better.”
The Washington Post is one of the main promoters and perpetrators of the delusional 2-state solution, along with The New York Times, the wire services, and most Western mass media. In pursuit of their crusade for a State of Palestine, the paper wages an unrelenting war on Israeli leaders who disagree. In the 4/15/19 edition of the Post, the paper featured  this editorial:
Readers of that attack on the leader that Israelis had just chosen (again with a large margin) were subjected to an attack on the longstanding leader of  one of the strongest, most loyal US allies.  They also were prompted to read these additional articles from the WP:
These articles are representative of the WP’s overly critical reportage on Israel. If this is where many American Jews learn about Israel, it’s no wonder that American Jews are so ignorant of the true situation Israel faces.
Major Jewish organizations are not standing on the sidelines. The ADL, Ameinu, ARZA, Central Conference of American Rabbis, Israel Policy Forum, MERCAZ USA, National Council of Jewish Women, Rabbinical Assembly, Union for Reform Judaism, and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism all purportedly “liberal,” pile onto Israel’s government on a regular basis, holding fast to the negotiated 2-state solution as the ONLY ANSWER to peace in the Middle East. Since the Oslo Accords of 1993, the Palestinian Authority has shown zero interest in actually becoming an independent state, although they do independently govern their cities and towns. It’s time for Israel’s critics to deal with the reality that the 2-state solution, as they conceive it, is dead.
In my last article, I wrote about the difference between the Palestinian Arabs (Israel’s enemies) and the Israeli Arabs (citizens of Israel). Now I must mention the widening division between American Jews and Israelis, evident especially among young adults. 
American Jews born after 1980 are overwhelmingly politically center-left or left. Israeli Jews of the same age group are overwhelmingly politically center-right or right. What accounts for the difference? My opinion is that young Americans face no existential challenges and aren’t required to do national service or enlist in the IDF. Neither Canada or Mexico are likely to attack it. Even if they did so, together, the war would be over in one day.
Young Israelis face a far different situation. Israel does have a cold peace with two neighbors, Egypt and Jordan, but Lebanon, Syria, and nearby Iraq and Iran all are longstanding enemies whose total population dwarfs Israel’s. Although Israel’s neighbors are no match for Israel in a conventional war, a conventional war hasn’t been fought in decades. Instead, they rely on armed terrorists and fanatical brigades whose main purpose is to destroy the Jews and Israel by whatever means available, as they have been indoctrinated by their Islamist rulers. In addition, the Internet and social media are used to disseminate whatever anti-Israel/Jew hatred they can think of.
Liberal American Jews have strong opinions about what goes on in Israel; it is their right. But on what basis are they forming opinions? What they learn from the media is a skewed misrepresentation of the facts.
Some examples: The National State Law has been attacked as something terrible, just for declaring that Israel’s ethos is a State of the Jews. Our prime minister is attacked for being a demagogue, when Israelis have entrusted him with leading the country in election after election. Non-Orthodox American Jews are terribly upset about their conception that the Kotel/Western Wall prayer space is not egalitarian (in fact, there are egalitarian areas), when they themselves hardly show up at the holy site, or even come to Israel. Some American Jews even declare Israel an “apartheid” state, when full civil rights are accorded to all minorities (but not to our Palestinian Arab enemies, who don’t live in Israel). I could go on…
The 2-state solution has been negated for decades, never more convincingly than after Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005 and as a result has been the target of THOUSANDS of rockets and continuing attacks ever since. Giving up land to Arab enemies will only result in more terror against Israel. American Jews who have strong, negative opinions about Israel must educate themselves about what goes on here, without relying on non-stop, antagonistic, untrue media coverage on Israel. American liberals and the mass media – who made them the mavens about Israel?
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Kramer is a freelance writer based in Kfar Sava, Israel.  He may be contacted via steve.kramer@sdjewishworld.com