New York Times headquarters
New York Times headquartersiStock

Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan sent a scathing letter to the Executive Editor of The New York Times. Joseph Kahn, in which he sharply criticized the newspaper's overt anti-Israel bias. In the letter, Ambassador Erdan noted that the asymmetry in The Times' coverage of Israel, from opinion columns to news stories, is disgraceful and must be rectified. The information in the letter is based on a study conducted by Bar-Ilan University over the course of 2022.

During 2022, there were 361 articles focusing on Israel, most of which disparage Israel and brand it a human right's violator. The study also shows that the number of opinion columns condemning Israel was almost double the number of columns condemning Iran, despite the fact that in the past year, the Ayatollah regime murdered innocent protestors in the street, oppressed women, and accelerated its nuclear program.

Ambassador Erdan also noted that in 2022, "The Times published only four negative articles about Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad combined."

The Ambassador accused Kahn of omitting details and distorting the reality on the ground, "The cornerstones of journalism ethics are truth, accuracy, and objectivity – values that, when it comes to Israel, The Times deliberately refuses to uphold. When The New York Times chooses to demonize Israel, the very least professional journalism demands is that the reader be exposed to the whole story in order to formulate an unbiased opinion. Yet when The Times reports Israel’s actions with nearly non-existent context, it actively contributes to warping the truth."

"Due to your whitewashing of Palestinian terror and the propagation of half-truths, your readers are hardly aware of these Jihadist organizations’ existence, let alone the constant threat they pose to Israel. In the future, if Israel is again forced to defend itself against indiscriminate Palestinian rocket fire on our homefront, whether from Gaza or Lebanon, your readership will unknowingly infer that Israel is the aggressor, despite the exact opposite being true. Through this deceitful coverage, The Times not only twists the truth, but also incentivizes terrorism."

"As you are aware, antisemitism is rising at a terrifying rate. Much of today’s violent Jew-hatred takes the form of Israel-hatred. And part of the blame for this growing bigotry lays on your shoulders. The New York Times’ libelous narratives are actively contributing to the growing hatred of my country, and as a result, your publication plays a role in endangering Jews around the globe."

The study Ambassador Erdan cited was conducted by Israeli author and Ma’ariv journalist Lilac Sigan, together with leading International Communication and Public Diplomacy expert Professor Eytan Gilboa of Bar-Ilan University.

The study found that despite the fact that Israel was governed by a diverse coalition which included left-wing parties and even an Arab party for most of 2022, 53% of the Times' coverage of Israel throughout the year was negative, and information regarding the threats Israel faces was consistently omitted from articles about Israel.

The New York Times, which has a print circulation of around 750,000 in the US, and 8.6 million paid online subscribers, is one of the twenty post popular newspapers in the world.