MK Rabbi Israel Eichler (UTJ) said at a Knesset committee discussion of the role of journalists in Judea and Samaria that “the media cameras are like a speeding vehicle.”
“Each and every picture has a tremendous impact on the results of the war being waged on this country,” said Eichler, adding that “while the Palestinians have failed in the battle militarily and economically, they have won the war over global media awareness.”
MK Eichler, 61, came to the Knesset from a long career as journalist and publisher, and understands the power of and the temptations that face the media. He is a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, which also puts him at a unique advantage to understand both the impact and the damage associated with foreign and local coverage of the conflict.
Eichler argued that the reason for “this large gap between [the Palestinians’] military and economic inferiority to Israel, and their superiority in the global media, where we have so terribly failed,” is rooted in the media’s inherent inability to report fairly about Israel. So much so that today “the whole world sees Israel as the state of occupation and apartheid,” and “we are heading with great strides to the status equal to that of white South Africa,” which the world boycotted into submission in the past. And all of it, argues Eichler, began and ended with the media.
“When the media report fairly, it is just as important to us,” Eichler insisted. “None of us want to live in a country where people disappear or are injured” out of sight, with “a government that kills innocent civilians indiscriminately without being reported by the media. Woe unto us if the media can’t fairly cover civil demonstrations. But if the media become part of the war by demonizing Israel, the camera then becomes a weapon of war.”
Eichler compared the media to a motor vehicle, which can take you to joyous destinations and save lives, but can also cause accidents and ram into civilians in terror attacks. It all depends on who is the driver behind the wheel. The Journalist, the photographer and their editor decide what to show, from which angle, and at which sequence of images.
“A journalist who does his work properly and reports on the difficulties of war and the price of war, is a vital tool for communications,” Eichler reiterated. “But journalists that become part of the propaganda machine against the State of Israel, are no less hostile than Palestinian rioters. All they want is to find a provocative image and ignite a fire to encourage young terrorists to take knives and stab Jews and shoot innocent people.” The hands of these Journalists, photographers and editors are smeared with the blood of the innocent, Eichler believes.
It comes down to who decides who is a decent journalist, which is the role of the Government Press Office, Eichler pointed out. He cautioned that the accrediting agency must examine each applicant’s past and their professional work, to decide whether they are acceptable — much the way the DMV decides whether or not to issue a driver’s license.