Anti-Israel Bias of New York Times Confirmed in New Study

By Hamodia Staff

YERUSHALAYIM — A new study of New York Times coverage of Israel during 2022 furnishes data confirming the widespread allegations that the newspaper is guilty of a strong bias against Israel.

The research was conducted by Israeli journalist Lilac Sigan in collaboration with International Communication and Public Diplomacyexpert Professor Eytan Gilboa of Bar-Ilan University.

They found a distinct bias in the coverage during the year 2022 as reflected in the following items:

Reporting on terrorist organizations was thin and not particularly harsh: Hezbollah was mentioned in only 4 headlines throughout the year (of which 1 was negative), Hamas in 2 headlines (of which 1 was negative).

National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir was characterized 20 times as a “terrorist,” whereas Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was only twice branded a terrorist, and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah somehow escaped the label completely. While it is true that Ben Gvir was convicted in the past for supporting a group designated as terrorist, Sinwar and Nasrallah are the active heads of two of the most deadly terrorist groups in the Middle East.

Twenty negative opinion articles were published against Israel from January 2022 until the present, compared to 13 articles against Iran, where the nuclear project is thriving and massive human rights protests broke out in the past year.

During January through October Israel received 51% negative coverage. In the months of November-December (since the elections but before the formation of the new government), a sharp increase was recorded: 68% of the coverage of Israel was negative.

The Times treatment of terrorist attacks in Israel drastically downplays its extent: While the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) said that in 2022 there were more than 2,600 attacks in Israel, out of which 204 were defined as significant, the Times claimed in an article that was published at the end of December and again in January that there were only 5 significant terror attacks in Israel during the year.

The paper also claimed that most of the Palestinians killed during 2022 were non-involved citizens, while IDF data shows the majority to have been armed combatants.

The words “Hamas” and “terrorist organization” appeared together in New York Times articles only 13 times during the year. The words “Israel” and “apartheid” appeared together 39 times, although Israel is not an apartheid state and Hamas is a terror organization, officially, according to the U.S. State Department, as well as Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, and the U.K.