CAMERAorg

THREAD: Israeli paper @Haaretz stands accused of deliberately mistranslating its own reporting to feed international readers a lie about IDF conduct in Gaza.

So, you're probably thinking... 

How did they respond to these serious allegations?

With a laughing emoji… 

But at CAMERA, we know that none of this is a laughing matter. 

On June 27th a shocking @haaretz' English edition headline claimed as fact that IDF soldiers were "ordered to shoot deliberately at unarmed Gazans waiting for humanitarian aid." 

@Haaretz Also, the phrase "Killing Field" is usually associated w/sites in Cambodia where 1.3+ million people were brutally killed + buried in the Communist Khmer Rouge's 1970s genocide.

Was @Haaretz deliberately attempting to shock readers with such an egregious allusion? 

@Haaretz In any case, the 🇮🇱Hebrew version of the June 27th piece, attributes the shooting order claim to anonymous sources and clarifies the alleged aim was crowd dispersal, NOT killing. https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/politics/2025-06-27/ty-article-magazine/.premium/00000197-ac81-dd94-addf-afd10fc00000 

@Haaretz Another bizarre detail is how the English article implies that Brig. Gen. Yehuda Vach was behind the shootings. 

But guess what?

 The Hebrew version clearly states his unit wasn't even operating in the area. 

So why was he featured at all? 🤔

@Haaretz Then something even stranger happened...

After CAMERA flagged the contradiction, @Haaretz quietly changed the English article... 

Partially.

But the edit still left in a mistranslation of a key military term, creating confusion about which unit was where.

#Puzzling 🧩

@Haaretz Sadly this is part of a pattern.

📍In 2012, Haaretz claimed most Israeli Jews support apartheid — this lie was later retracted. 

https://www.camera.org/article/will-inquiry-follow-ha-aretz-apartheid-clarification/

@Haaretz 📍In 2013, it falsely said Israel forcibly sterilized Ethiopian women, a lie STILL repeated by anti-Israel activists today.

https://www.camera.org/article/israeli-outlets-foment-demonization-with-sloppy-journalism/

The recent June 27 English article also omits the IDF's official denial in the subheading, quoting only Netanyahu and Katz.

The Hebrew version, however, includes this key line: 

💬"There is no IDF directive whatsoever to deliberately shoot civilians."

@Haaretz The Hebrew version also says soldiers were ordered to shoot "towards" people to drive them away.

The English says they were told to shoot at them — implying intent to kill.

That's not a minor change! 

@Haaretz In short:

-The article overuses anonymous sources

-Contradicts its own Hebrew version

-Implies wrongdoing by someone not involved

-Distorts quotes + headlines

-Omits key denials

This isn't sloppy. It's systematic.

@Haaretz For over 13 years, CAMERA has tracked mistranslations by @Haaretz from Hebrew to English.

But this article — suggesting Israeli troops intentionally gunned down aid-seeking civilians — still shocked us.

@Haaretz If a newspaper's English edition regularly contradicts its own Hebrew reporting, especially on highly important and sensitive topics, how much trust does it deserve?

@Haaretz Read @TamarSternthal's full analysis

🔗https://www.camera.org/article/haaretz-lost-in-translation-gaza-killing-field-edition/