Americans Should Ask Not Only What War Has Done to Gaza, but Also What It's Done to Israel
Here in America, we still talk of Israel's extreme right-wing takeover as something temporary. But if you can't call this government what it is – Kahanist, extremist, eager to burn down what remains of the state – you're not standing with Israel
By Etan Nechin
Jul 31, 2025
Israeli TV debates have shown just how far the local media it is willing to go to look away from Gaza. Since the war began, Israeli audiences have largely been shielded from the reality of Gaza's devastation. It's not just censorship –
it's that most Israelis would rather not know.
While a few reporters on Channel 12 defended the duty to document starvation and mass death in Gaza, editor Ron Yaron confessed that "it's hard to relate to" the coverage. On Channel 13, however, former footballer-turned-host Eyal Berkovic spelled it out by asking why images of starvation should even be shown. Veteran journalist Moriah Asraf replied, "I have no idea."
But a similar, perhaps parallel denial runs deep in the United States as well. While some in the media and from Jewish communities have started to act, many are unwilling to ask what this war has done to Israel. Unlike Israelis, they've seen the images coming out of Gaza, but they choose instead to give cover instead of condemnation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, who are wielding famine toward mass death.
In these circles, from pundits to politicians to conservative-leaning Jewish organizations, obfuscation reigns. First: there's no famine, just Hamas propaganda. Then: there's famine, but the UN is to blame. Then: even if there's famine, Hamas caused it. And now? Israel is praised for restoring a trickle of aid it was obligated to allow all along – reviving the very system it dismantled. Here, the name of the game is deny, distort and discredit.
None of these allegations aligns with the facts. A U.S. government review found no evidence of systematic Hamas theft of humanitarian aid.
Some took a clarification from The New York Times about a photo of a malnourished Palestinian child in Gaza's pre-existing condition as proof that reports of famine were fake. But that doesn't negate he's malnourished; in fact, in the 24 hours since its publication, seven more people in Gaza died of malnourishment, bringing the total to 154. The facts remain, despite their attempted, bad-faith rebuttals.
Another example of denial is Bari Weiss' so-called "Free Press"—a name that grows more ironic by the day, given its silence on Israel's ban on letting journalists enter Gaza. It has become a chorus of deflection: hunger is a myth, or worse – they frame mass starvation not as a humanitarian crisis, but as just another narrative to manage.
Where is the American outrage over the Jewish state's weaponization of famine?
Instead of looking at Israel and what it's doing to Gaza, we hear condemnations about the removal Jewish children from a flight, or the cancellation of an Israeli DJ's set at a music festival. Zohran Mamdani is compared to Hitler over three words he never said, and academic freedom is dismantled over chants of "from the river to the sea." But seemingly, there is nothing to say about the Israeli government ministers bragging about starving Gaza.
For nearly two years, these voices have justified war crimes with one phrase: "but October 7," as if one horror excuses another. As if calls for genocide and starving a population are not the official policy of a government acting with impunity, backed by the American establishment.
They invoke October 7 but ignore Israel's order to cut off water and fuel to Gaza. They rail against a rapper shouting "Death to the IDF" but say nothing when Israeli ministers call to nuke Gaza.
They parrot the line that Israel "just wants to bring the hostages home," ignoring numerous reports showing Netanyahu blocked deal after deal and dragged out negotiations, or National Missions Minister Orit Strock's demand to bomb areas where hostages are held.
And when it comes to the West Bank, they say even less. They ignore settlers invading homes, torching villages and churches and carrying out pogroms as the government and IDF stand by.
The main problem is that here in America, many still talk about Israel's extreme right-wing takeover as if it's temporary – as if the country is just going through a rough patch. They parrot the line that Israel is still "the only democracy in the Middle East," even as the attorney general is pushed out for defying the government, and the judiciary—once the last check on political overreach – is gutted to serve a far-right agenda.
They boast of Israel's LGBTQ protections, ignoring that the very courts that once upheld those rights have been hollowed out to empower a bloc of openly homophobic ministers. The same politicians who speak of "Jewish supremacy" and "cleansing" are now shaping the legal system.
They call for solidarity with the Druze of Syria while upholding the Nation-State Law that made Druze citizens of Israel officially second-class.
This isn't a deviation from democratic norms. It is their demolition – methodical, deliberate and cheered on, even if only by passivity, by many of the same American voices still calling Israel a vibrant democracy.
In this, they ignore hostage families pleading for a deal. They ignore IDF soldiers dying by suicide at astonishing rates – not only from battle, but also from what they saw in Gaza and what they were ordered to do. They ignore all the thousands of Israelis protesting against the government every week.
When major Jewish organizations reject a meeting with France's foreign minister after its President Emanuel Macron says he will recognize a Palestine state, it shows how far the mainstream has drifted – not rallying to offer hope, but locking into the Israeli right's deterministic view of a forever war.
If you can't call this government what it is – Kahanist, extremist, eager to burn down what remains of the state – you're not standing with Israel. You're standing in the way of any chance it has left to change.
To chant about hostages without condemning Israel's government and its actions in Gaza is to back the very government that is keeping them underground.
After October 7, on a popular podcast, Israeli historian Hillel Cohen observed that part of the reason Israel ended up where it has is because liberal Zionists insisted on judging Zionism by its intentions – not its actions and their outcomes.
But today, the outcome is clear: Israel has become a fortress for Jewish fascism, where brutality is policy and dissent is betrayal.
Rather than confront this reality, it is instead being deflected – giving cover to a war machine grinding down Israelis and Palestinians alike. The Israel they defend doesn't exist. Maybe it never did.
Etan Nechin is Haaretz's New York correspondent.
PS : I did not include the X posts
link :
https://archive.md/WwSSo#selection-2247.0-2257.48
= new reply since forum marked as read
