{"id":278186,"date":"2024-10-28T12:00:43","date_gmt":"2024-10-28T12:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=278186"},"modified":"2024-10-22T06:54:57","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T05:54:57","slug":"revealed-the-israeli-spies-writing-us-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2024\/10\/revealed-the-israeli-spies-writing-us-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Revealed: The Israeli Spies Writing US News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Illustration by MintPress News<\/p><\/div>\n

17 Oct 2024 <\/em>– One year after Oct. 7 attacks, Netanyahu is on a winning streak.\u201d So reads the title of a recent Axios\u00a0article<\/a>\u00a0describing the Israeli prime minister riding on an unbeatable wave of triumphs. These stunning military \u201csuccesses,\u201d its author Barak Ravid notes, include the bombing of Yemen, the assassinations of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and the\u00a0pager attack<\/a>\u00a0against Lebanon.<\/p>\n

The same author recently went viral for an article that claimed that Israeli attacks against Hezbollah are \u201cnot intended to lead to war but are an attempt to reach \u2018de-escalation through escalation.\u2019\u201d Users on social media mocked Ravid for this bizarre, Orwellian reasoning. But what almost everybody missed is that Barak Ravid is an Israeli spy \u2013 or at least he was until recently. Ravid is a former\u00a0analyst<\/a>\u00a0with Israeli spying agency Unit 8200, and as recently as\u00a0last year<\/a>, was still a reservist with the Israeli Defense Forces group.<\/p>\n

Unit 8200 is Israel\u2019s largest and perhaps most controversial spying organization. It has been responsible for many high-profile espionage and terror operations, including the recent pager attack that injured thousands of Lebanese civilians. As this investigation will reveal, Ravid is far from the only Israeli ex-spook working at top U.S. media outlets, working hard to manufacture Western support for his country\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n

White House Insider<\/h2>\n

Ravid has quickly become one of the most influential individuals in the Capitol Hill press corps. In April, he won the prestigious White House Press Correspondents\u2019 Award \u201cfor overall excellence in White House coverage\u201d\u2014one of the highest awards in American journalism. Judges were impressed by what they\u00a0described<\/a>\u00a0as his \u201cdeep, almost intimate levels of sourcing in the U.S. and abroad\u201d and picked out six articles as exemplary pieces of journalism.<\/p>\n

Most of these stories consisted of simply printing anonymous White House or Israeli government sources, making them look good, and distancing President Biden from the horrors of the Israeli attack on Palestine. As such, there was functionally no difference between these and White House press releases. For example, one story the judges picked out was titled \u201cScoop: Biden tells Bibi 3-day fighting pause could help secure release of some hostages,\u201d and presented the 46th President of the United States as a dedicated humanitarian hellbent on reducing suffering. Another described how \u201cfrustrated\u201d Biden was becoming with Netanyahu and the Israeli government.<\/p>\n

Protestors had\u00a0called<\/a>\u00a0on reporters to snub the event in solidarity with their fallen counterparts in Gaza (which, at the time of writing, comes to at least\u00a0128 journalists<\/a>). Not only was there no boycott of the event, but organizers gave their highest award to an Israeli intelligence official-turned-reporter who has earned a reputation as perhaps the most dutiful stenographer of power in Washington.<\/p>\n

Ravid was personally presented with the award by President Biden, who embraced him like a brother. That a known (former) Israeli spy could hug Biden in such a manner speaks volumes about not only the intimate relationship between the United States and Israel but about the extent to which establishment media holds power to account.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/x.com\/BarakRavid\/status\/1784448413838279028<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ravid has made a name for himself by uncritically printing flattering information given to him by either the U.S. or Israeli government and passing it off as a scoop. In April, he\u00a0wrote<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cPresident Biden laid out an ultimatum to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their call on Thursday: If Israel doesn\u2019t change course in Gaza, \u2018we won\u2019t be able to support you,\u2019\u201d and that he\u00a0was<\/a>\u00a0\u201cmaking his strongest push for an end to the fighting in Gaza in six months of war, and warning for the first time that U.S. policy on the war will depend on Israel\u2019s adherence to his demands,\u201d which included \u201can immediate ceasefire.\u201d In July, he\u00a0repeated<\/a>\u00a0anonymous sources that told him that Netanyahu and Israel are striving for \u201ca diplomatic solution\u201d \u2013 another highly dubious claim.<\/p>\n

Other articles by Ravid following the same pattern include:<\/p>\n