Is Israel Losing The Media War?

Israel's military capabilities are far superior to those of militants in the Gaza Strip, but it may be losing the war on a different front. HuffPost Live asks whether, and if so why, Israel may be losing the media war.

Benjamin Wallace-Wells, contributing editor at New York Magazine, told HuffPost Live's Ricky Camilleri that unlike during previous confrontations between Gaza and Israel, he thinks the stories that are coming out about the Middle East now are mostly being told from the perspective of Palestinians.

"It certainly feels to me like this story is being told much more through Palestinian eyes," Wallace-Wells said. "If you think back over the last couple of weeks, almost all of the iconic images of this conflict, almost all of the stories people will remember are Palestinian civilians coming under attack."

J.J. Goldberg, editor-at-large at The Jewish Daily Forward, thinks that many headlines have taken away from the fact that Israel is "facing an enemy that simply doesn't want them to exist." He added that the images of bodies coming out of Gaza make it hard for Israel to convince the media of its narrative.

"All of the coverage that I've seen of this conflict has begun with the death count, with a body count, and if you're gonna begin with a body count, Israel is going to lose," Goldberg said.

Ari Wohlfeiler, development director at Jewish Voice for Peace, on the other hand argues that this isn't about the media being pro-Palestinian or pro-Israel; but, rather about the realistic depictions of the casualties in Gaza.

"This is about what's happening and what's happening is that Israel has killed over 100 children in the last eight days," Wohlfeiler said. "People in the US, and including Jews in the US, are really really sick about that. People are really really upset and they want that to change and I think one of the places we're pushing [for that]...is to say we need honest media coverage about what's happening."

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