Bias against Israel in national media has been glaringly apparent since Hamas’ October 7 terror attack that killed over 1,200 Israelis. However, this bias did not start on October 7. Much of today’s contemporary anti-Zionism and antisemitism can be traced back to the rise of progressive ideologies originating in elite American universities, such as Critical Race Theory (CRT), Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) measures, and anti-colonial studies. These frameworks promote a worldview based on narratives and “lived experience” rather than facts which has spread into major cultural institutions like journalism as well as the workplace, with negative effects.
One of the most prevalent narratives that plague our culture today is the separation of peoples into two clumsy, uncomplicated categories: “oppressed” and “oppressor.” Jews in particular are unfairly sorted into the “oppressor” category because the left interprets them as “white” and privileged. Journalist Batya Ungar-Sargon has been outspoken on how elite universities have produced journalists who no longer report the news without bias, but lean into this narrative with the aim of telling a calculated story:
The problem with today’s left-wing media is not that it’s liberal, it’s not that it’s left-wing, but it’s that it’s made up of a bunch of people who spent a decade of their lives being inculcated into this extremely disgusting worldview that is against everything we believe as Jews—and against everything Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wanted.
Her argument is that “our national media has become the stenographers of terrorists.” Adam Milstein, a Los Angeles-based venture philanthropist, agrees. He has also written extensively on the media’s bias, especially over the last year. In an article for The Jerusalem Post, Milstein discusses how the media portrays so-called “pro-Palestinian” protests, which are always “drenched in antisemitic rhetoric, anti-Jewish venom, or stereotypical tropes.” This includes support of Hamas and Hezbollah as well as chants of “from the river to the sea,” a not-so-subtle nod to the complete annihilation of Israel as a Jewish state, and “globalize the intifada,” a blatant reference to deadly terrorist uprisings that killed thousands of innocent Israeli civilians. Milstein argues that the media “legitimizes this charade instead of labeling these protestors what they are: antisemites.”
Milstein’s long career in philanthropy has educated him on the many ways in which antisemitism manifests in our contemporary society. He is the co-founder of the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation, founded in 2000 with a mission to support a robust network of organizations that strengthen American values, support the U.S.-Israel alliance, and combat hatred and bigotry in all forms. He has written extensively on left-wing antisemitism and bias against Israel in our cultural institutions like universities, journalism, and even government.
The Milstein Family Foundation proudly supports the Henry Jackson Society, a UK-based trans-Atlantic foreign policy and national security think tank. In mid-December 2024, the Henry Jackson Society released a report analyzing the way the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health counts the death toll amidst the ongoing Israel-Gaza war. Andrew Fox, author of the report and a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, states:
This report raises serious concerns that the Gaza MoH figures have been overstated. The data behind their figures contains natural deaths, deaths from before this conflict began and deaths of those killed by Hamas itself; it contains no mention of Hamas combatant fatalities; and it overstates the number of women and children killed.
Fox does not just discuss Hamas’ culpability in misleading the world with an erroneous death count. He shares alarming statistics about how the media unquestionably cites the Ministry of Health’s death toll, taking Hamas’ word as gospel. Fox surveyed over 1,300 articles from major English-language publications and media outlets, like The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, CNN, the BBC, Reuters, and the Associated Press over a four month period, from February 2024 through May 2024.
He found that over that period, the vast majority of these outlets failed to distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths. Only a miniscule 5% cited death toll figures released by Israeli authorities while 98% cited figures provided by the Ministry of Health. Oftentimes, Hamas’ figures were used without citing any source, “thereby suggesting those figures were undisputed.” Fewer than one in 50 articles mentions that the figures provided by the Ministry of Health are unverifiable or controversial while Israeli figures “had their credibility questioned in half of the few articles that incorporated them.”
These findings show not just how biased the mainstream media is against Israel, but how irresponsible journalists have become when reporting on the Middle East conflict. It strikes right at the heart of Milstein’s argument: “The complicity of many media outlets helps perpetuate dangerous stereotypes and fosters further Jew-hatred.” Whether the media is whitewashing anti-Israel protestors’ calls for violence or uncritically citing Hamas’ inflated death toll numbers, this kind of journalism “does not advance the cause of peace.”
The Milstein Family Foundation supports numerous other organizations that monitor media for biases like this. The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting (CAMERA) promotes accurate and balanced coverage of Israel and the Middle East. HonestReporting monitors coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict and facilitates accurate reporting for foreign journalists covering the region. Palestinian Media Watch, an Israeli research institute, analyzes “PA-controlled newspapers, TV shows, radio programs, social media sites, and schoolbooks” and “reports on the Palestinian Authority’s promotion and glorification of terror” to its own people and the world.
It’s vital that organizations like these and the Henry Jackson Society can continue to do their work in exposing media bias against Israel. Milstein argues that media outlets must acknowledge antisemitism for what it is to avoid adding fuel to the flame. He believes we must push society at large to address the dangerous narratives and ideologies at the heart of this anti-Israel bias because they endanger both Jews and non-Jews alike as well as the democratic values on which America was founded.
