The @WashingtonPost @IshaanTharoor again tries to smear Israel based on lazy journalism ~ EoZ

Friday, November 10, 2023

The @WashingtonPost @IshaanTharoor again tries to smear Israel based on lazy journalism

Ishaan Tharoor, of the Washington Post's "Today's Worldview" column, has been using every opportunity to attack Israel under the guise of journalism.

Earlier this week we showed how he tried to mainstream the utterly malicious and false charge that Israel was committing "genocide" in Gaza. (Petra Marquardt-Bigman demolished a piece of his in 2017 as well.)

Now, he is spreading the lie that Israel is purposefully damaging Gaza civilian targets for no military reason:

A few days after Hamas’s horrific Oct. 7 rampage through southern Israel, a top Israeli military official was blunt about his nation’s military response. Israeli security officials repeatedly stress the steps they take to minimize civilian harm and claim they are only striking legitimate military targets. In recent days, Daniel Hagari, spokesman of the Israel Defense Forces, accused Hamas of “cynically” deploying its assets in civilian areas and near critical infrastructure, like hospitals. But when speaking in the offensive’s early stage, Hagari revealed that the “emphasis” of the IDF’s reprisal was “on damage and not on accuracy.”

Tharoor then builds this article around the theory that Israel is implementing the so-called "Dahiya doctrine:"

There are reams of commentary on what Israel’s strategy and endgame may be as it seeks to nullify the long-standing threat posed by Hamas and purge the Islamist militant faction from its Gaza redoubts. But looming behind it — and implicit in Hagari’s “emphasis” on damage over accuracy — is a long-standing Israeli military doctrine that appears to be in play now.

The so-called “Dahiya Doctrine” took shape in the wake of the bruising 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Dahiya refers to the southern Beirut suburbs where Hezbollah maintained its strongholds and which were pummeled by Israeli jets after hostilities began when Hezbollah fighters abducted two Israeli soldiers. The onslaught then took Hezbollah by surprise, whose senior leadership had not expected to see their headquarters turned into rubble nor had planned for such a relentless bombardment. “I said that we shouldn’t exaggerate, that Israel will just retaliate a bit, bomb a couple of targets and that would be the end of it,” a Hezbollah operative told former Washington Post reporter Anthony Shadid in 2006.

Tharoor is implying that Israel is no longer attacking military targets but instead is just trying to cause widespread damage for the sake of deterrence in future wars.

Of course, instead of looking at what Hagari actually said that day, he only links to a Guardian article that gave no context. Because it is too good to check.

Hagari was specifically speaking about causing massive damage to Hamas targets, not to civilian targets. He added, "We are taking a toll on every Hamas position and structure, dozens from every pilot in every Air Force strike. Among other things, the IDF attacked a weapons warehouse located in a mosque, and homes of activists (Hamas members)."

Later that day, Hagari clarified this further:

The IDF has shifted to a different counterattack method and is striking in waves. Tens of IAF aircraft have struck aerially every 4 hours over the past 36 hours. The IAF has all its reserve personnel manning aircraft both in the headquarters and the squadrons on a wide scale. These strikes on thousands of terrorist targets using thousands of munitions. We are using every piece of intelligence to maximize damage to meeting spots for terrorists planning to invade Israel, houses belonging to senior Hamas commanders, terrorist operational centers and headquarters and terrorist infrastructure.

The main strike conducted last night targeted the Rimal area in Gaza. The area is a symbol of luxury in the center of Gaza and has very significant meaning to senior Hamas leaders and operatives. Afterwards, we struck further targets in Khan Yunis, including terrorist intelligence infrastructure, apartments used for operational purposes and a spot where terrorists have been gathering before attacking Israeli territory. Hundreds of Hamas terrorist organization operatives have been neutralized during these strikes.

In other words, the IDF didn't only target official command and control centers but also places where Hamas leaders were known to meet in civilian areas like luxury hotels, with the intent to make it difficult for them to meet and plan. Targets are chosen strictly based on intel.

The targets were always Hamas. All of them are considered military targets under the laws of war.

As we have reported before, there are multiple layers of legal review before Israel does targeting. Nobody is even hinting that those procedures aren't in place now.

As far as generalizing the "Dahiya doctrine" to Gaza, the Lebanese strategy was to dissuade Hezbollah from considering future attacks. Israel has used this strategy since the 1950s, because it makes more sense in a small country to proactively deter attacks than to be on a constant defensive posture where mistakes could be catastrophic.

The Gaza strategy is to destroy Hamas. That goal requires a radically different strategy, and "Dahiya" - (where Israel also only attacked military targets) is not relevant here. The purpose isn't deterrence but total destruction of Hamas capabilities.

Once again, Tharoor - pretending to be some sort of brilliant analyst - reveals that he is no journalist to begin with. He doesn't check sources. He has a predetermined notion of the truth and tries to fit the facts to his theories. He assumes malice from Israel.

He is an anti-Israel propagandist, nothing more.

(h/t Jim W)

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