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New York Times Under Fire for Report Questioning Whether Israelis Were True Victims of Oct. 7 Attack
A New York Times report suggesting Israelis 'still largely view themselves as the victims' of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack has drawn widespread criticism, with journalists and pundits calling the framing grotesque and factually inverted.
The New York Times is facing sharp criticism over a report that critics say questioned whether Israelis were the true victims of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack. The controversy centers on a sentence in a piece by Times reporter Isabel Kershner, who covers Israeli and Palestinian affairs, stating that «Israelis still largely view themselves as the victims of Oct. 7.»
The article focused on a documentary about the killing of Palestinians by Israeli forces in Gaza. Midway through, Kershner noted that Israelis are deeply divided over how to apportion blame for the policy, military and intelligence failures that preceded the attack and the war, setting up the line that ignited the backlash.
Journalist Eitan Fischberger, who served in the Israel Defense Forces, said the sentence was jarring because it treated an objective fact as a matter of perception. «What’s so grotesque about this sentence is that it portrays an objective fact as some sort of Israeli victimhood mentality,» Fischberger told Fox News Digital. He compared it to the Times writing that Americans «still largely view themselves as the victims of 9/11» or of Pearl Harbor. «Whatever one thinks about the war that followed, Israelis were absolutely the victims of horrific atrocities on October 7,» he said.
Hamas launched the war with an unprecedented attack that killed approximately 1,200 people, most of them civilians. Hundreds were massacred at an outdoor music festival, others were killed inside their homes, and 254 hostages were taken. It was the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.
The criticism extended beyond Fischberger. Conservative pundit Scott Jennings wrote, «No words for this abomination.» Other critics on social media asked who the victims were if not Israelis, with one asking whether Al Jazeera had bought the Times.
The sentence also drew attention to a recent review of Times coverage of the early months of the Israel-Gaza war by Edieal Pinker of the Yale School of Management, which found a clear bias against Israel. Fischberger said the line was «the epitome of the pattern the study found.»
The Times did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The paper has previously defended its reporting against bias claims, issuing a statement regarding Pinker’s study that said advocates behind such studies «cherry-pick data that supports their beliefs while ignoring any evidence to the contrary.» The Times added that its work has exposed violations of international law and grave human rights abuses, and that war crimes prosecutors have cited its investigations.
The episode comes just days after the Times faced separate accusations over its Sept. 11 anniversary coverage. Critics said two stories — one headlined «After 9/11, Islamophobia Shaped a Generation of Muslim New Yorkers» and another titled «Facing Islamophobia, Mamdani Keeps Focus on 9/11 Victims» — framed Muslims as the true victims of the 2001 attacks. The Times rejected that criticism as «a disingenuous attempt to seek attention and stoke outrage by misrepresenting The New York Times's journalism covering the anniversary and commemoration of the Sept. 11 attacks.»
The latest controversy has renewed questions about how the Times frames victimhood and responsibility in its coverage of the Israel-Gaza war, a conflict that has deeply divided American audiences and newsrooms alike.
