If it feels like American public discourse is no longer the exclusive province of Americans, you’re not going mad. We have a war going on with Iran that demands an engaged public and seasoned professionals’ analysis and advice. But no one outside of America should lecture Americans on how to conduct the war.
Alas, several publications have given ample space to Israelis to do just that. The Free Press, for instance, has platformed indicted war criminal and former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant to tell us what the next step should be in our war with Iran. The framing is the issue here. Hearing from Israeli voices is useful, but it is unbecoming to afford Israeli preferences the same weight as Americans’.
The ubiquity of Israeli voices on The Free Press is quite noticeable. The publication regularly prints contributions from Israelis, all of them on the political right, such as Amit Segal, Matti Friedman, and Michael Oren. The Free Press advertises itself as an all-purpose American online magazine, but has afforded Israelis an enormous amount of space as if they are entitled to have a say in our public square.
Needless to say, the publication is rarely interested in platforming Palestinian voices, so this is not about just making sure readers hear an outsider perspective. And The Free Press matters. It is an elite publication whose editor, Bari Weiss, runs CBS News and may soon also take over CNN.
In the immediate days after the war with Iran started, the Wall Street Journal ran three guest op-eds by Israelis. All of them in support of the war. The New York Times did much better by centering analysis from American experts on Iran, including Iranian-Americans.
But it is not just some media publications where Israeli predominance is noticeable. Consider DC’s thank tanks, the source of endless talking heads on cable news and countless quotes and op-eds in the press. Think tanks exist to ensure that their perspective is widely disseminated consistently.
One of the loudest cheerleaders for the war is the misnamed Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. This neo-con outfit was started as an Israel advocacy group and has remained true to its mission. Its fellows regularly appear in the media and the press.
Narrowing the search field on its page of fellows to “Iran” yields several Israelis, such as a former advisor to the Israeli mission at the UN, Daniel Flesch. “His perspective on antisemitism, Israel, the Middle East, and defense has been featured in CBN, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, JNS, The New York Times, Newsmax, The Times of Israel, and other outlets,” FDD tells us.
Another senior fellow on Iran is former IDF Brigadier General Jacob Nagel. “He was a career Israeli civil servant official serving in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Defense Ministry and Prime Minister’s office for more than 40 years.” Senior international fellow (so at least this is accurately labeled) Eyal Hulata “served as Israel’s national security advisor and head of Israel’s National Security Council (NSC).” But most Israelis, unlike Hulata, do not have the caveat of being labeled as “international.”
