Israel's Foreign Ministry blasts CNN, BBC for 'manipulation'
Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon responds to CNN's tweet indicating killing of four Palestinians preceded deadly shooting of IDF soldier; ‘We will respond to every distorted headline.’
Israel's Foreign Ministry slammed CNN and BBC on Saturday for what it said was unbalanced coverage of recent events in Gaza, accusing the news outlets of "manipulating" events.
The CNN tweet contains a chronological inaccuracy by implying that the death of four Palestinians, three of whom were Hamas terrorists, took place before a sniper in Gaza killed an Israeli soldier.
"Israeli tank responds to reported fence breach … after an outbreak of violence that left four Palestinians, including three Hamas militants, and an Israeli soldier dead," the tweet reads.
The Foreign Ministry was furious at the report's wording which implied that the killing of the Palestinians preceded the killing of the IDF soldier, who was identified as 20-year-old Staff Sgt. Aviv Levi, thus attributing blame for the deadly skirmish to Israel.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon responded to CNN's report with a critical tweet of his own.
"No @cnni !!! You got it wrong and not for the first time - an Israeli soldier was killed by #Hamas and #IDF retaliated, protecting its country and citizens against murderous terrorists. By misrepresenting the facts you manipulate against #Israel! @cnni- STOP YOUR MANIPULATION !" the tweet read.
No @cnni !!! You got it wrong and not for the first time - an Israeli soldier was killed by #Hamas and #IDF retaliated, protecting its country and citizens against murderous terrorists. By misrepresenting the facts you manipulate against #Israel! @cnni- STOP YOUR MANIPULATION !
— Emmanuel Nahshon (@EmmanuelNahshon) July 21, 2018
CNN did not respond to Nahshon.
At the same time, Nahshon retweeted a tweet written by Omri Ceren, advisor to Senator Ted Cruz, who criticized the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), for misrepresenting recent events in Gaza.
"Israeli soldier 'dies from gunshot' is how the BBC reports on a Hamas terrorist shooting and killing an Israeli soldier. This is the new version of headlines about terrorist car rammings that say Israelis 'hit by car,'" Ceren tweeted.
Israeli soldier "dies from gunshot" is how the BBC reports on a Hamas terrorist shooting and killing an Israeli soldier. This is the new version of headlines about terrorist car rammings that say Israelis "hit by car." pic.twitter.com/VqJM8EmIvK
— Omri Ceren (@omriceren) July 21, 2018
Nahshon told Ynet that his ministry would not allow the tweets to go unanswered.
"We in the Foreign Ministry are on guard 24 hours a day. We would not let international media deliberatly distort the events taking place in Israel and in our region. We will respond to every distorted headline and demand its immediate correction," said the spokesman.
