Alerts

Netanyahu Confronts the Eighth Front: The Global War of Lies

In a meeting with foreign journalists, the PM blasted the international media's malicious caricature of Israel as a cruel, warmongering Jewish state.
Share this
Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a press conference
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a press conference for the foreign media in Jerusalem on August 10, 2025. (Haim Zach/GPO)

Table of Contents

This article was originally published on JNS.org on August 11, 2025.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not known for seeking out journalists, especially not the foreign press corps that has, for years, attacked him personally and politically while accusing Israel of the worst imaginable crimes. But on August 10, he broke form.

In flawless English and with his trademark communicative vigor, Netanyahu met face-to-face in Jerusalem with representatives of the very media outlets that have turned Gaza into a theater of blood libels and the IDF into their chief villain.

The reason? To take the fight directly to the “eighth front” of the war—the avalanche of disinformation that has become as dangerous as rockets or tunnels. Since Israel announced its expanded operations in Gaza, anti-Israel activists and complicit journalists have gleefully called it an “occupation,” reviving the same tired propaganda Hamas has relied on for decades.

Palestinian leaders openly admit this is their greatest weapon. Fatah’s Jibril Rajoub called Oct. 7, 2023, “the Palestinian Holocaust—our winning card.” Hamas leader Ghazi Hamad boasted, “The whole world is now against Israel, accused of genocide and ethnic cleansing.”

Netanyahu knows the stakes. As he spoke, he faced a storm at home: Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatening to quit, hostage families calling for a nationwide strike, and critics accusing him—yet again—of political opportunism, corruption, even “fascism.”

Yet he pressed forward with a single message while blasting the international media’s malicious caricature of Israel as a cruel, warmongering Jewish state: Israel will dismantle Hamas and rescue its hostages.

He forcefully rejected the lies that Israel uses hunger as a weapon of war, seeks to destroy an entire people, or wages battle out of some “perfidious” national instinct. On the contrary, he reminded the press that Israel has allowed in two million tons of food into Gaza, aid Hamas seized, and the United Nations failed to distribute.

He stressed that Israel’s goal is not occupation but security—handing civil power in Gaza to trustworthy Arab partners, not to the corrupt Palestinian Authority or genocidal Hamas.

“Contrary to false claims, this is the best way to end the war and the best way to end it speedily,” he insisted. Seventy-five percent of Gaza is already under IDF control, with Hamas holding only Gaza City and the central refugee camps. Israel is pushing civilians to safe zones before final operations.

And he made one thing clear: The Palestinians have never wanted a state of their own that we offered since 1948—they only seek Israel’s destruction. “The Palestinians were offered a state many times, including in the partition resolution and they turned it down,” he said. “They were offered statehood by my predecessors, with lavish, lavish concessions. They turned it down.”

Netanyahu’s analogy was stark: You would not have left the Nazis in Berlin in 1945; neither will Israel leave Hamas in Gaza in 2025. His strategic vision extends beyond Gaza, toward the defeat of Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Iranian regime—with the backing of the United States.

Despite political fractures at home and the anguish of hostage families, Netanyahu is betting on a larger transformation—a postwar Middle East in which Israel survives not by begging for sympathy but by winning decisive victories. The foreign press may not want to hear it, but for Israel, victory is not optional.

Dr. Fiamma Nirenstein

Dr. Fiamma Nirenstein, the Israel Foreign Ministry’s Special Advisor for Combating Antisemitism, is a Senior Fellow of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs. She was a member of the Italian Parliament (2008-2013) where she served as Vice President of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Chamber of Deputies, served in the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, and established and chaired the Committee for the Inquiry into Anti-Semitism. A founding member of the international Friends of Israel Initiative, she is the author of 13 books, including Israel Is Us (2009). She is a Fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.
Share this

Invest in JCFA

Subscribe to Daily Alert

The Daily Alert – Israel news digest appears every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

Related Items

Stay Informed, Always

Get the latest news, insights, and updates directly in your inbox—be the first to know!

Subscribe to Jerusalem Issue Briefs
The Daily Alert – Israel news digest appears every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

Notifications

The Jerusalem Center
The Gaza Flotilla Is a Fraud

Far from a humanitarian mission, the latest 70-vessel spectacle on its way to Gaza from Italy is a costly act of political theater @FiammaNirenste1 @JNS_org

11:28am
The Jerusalem Center
The Assassination of Abu Obeida – Why Is Hamas Remaining Silent?

Senior Israeli security officials note that such silence is not new; Hamas often delays its statements following targeted Israeli assassinations, raising questions whether this stems from attempts to verify the information or from a deliberate strategy of ambiguity https://x.com/jerusalemcenter

11:25am
The Jerusalem Center
The Impact of Radical Legal Ideology: From the Classroom to the International Forum

Massive funding of Critical Legal Studies-style academic and extracurricular programs promotes anti-Western ideas and undermines international community institutions and legal conventions https://x.com/jerusalemcenter

11:23am
The Jerusalem Center
Western Countries Focus on Iran Technicalities, Ignore Ideological Bent

The West must look beyond nuclear “offsides” and confront the core issue: a regime in decline, anchored to a dying leader, ruling over a weary population hungry for change x.com/jerusalemcenter

11:19am
The Jerusalem Center
Israel, Gaza, and the Race Against Time

The Trump proposal to create a 10-year trusteeship levels the playing field and provides an opportunity for the Egyptians to open its border with Gaza @Dan_Diker

11:15am
The Jerusalem Center
Canada investigating Israeli-Canadian IDF soldiers?
JCFA senior researcher, Amb. Alan Baker slams the probe as a “political PR stunt with no legal basis.” “This isn’t justice—it’s a betrayal. Canada is siding with PLO propaganda over facts.”
11:29am
The Jerusalem Center
What makes a child believe killing a #Jew is justified?

In PA textbooks, Jews are called liars and frauds; their fate: elimination. This is #indoctrination—not #education. But change is happening. On East to West, @IMPACT_SE CEO Marcus Sheff exposes how #UNRWA-funded schools are fueling extremism—and what real reform looks like.  Listen now on Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/2JHqh973U  Watch on YouTube: youtu.be/8OkJTGNfVUc

11:43am
The Jerusalem Center
Highlights from the @Jerusalem_Post Annual Conference in NYC:

Dr. @Dan_Diker, President of the JCFA: “October 7 wasn’t just an attack on Israel — it was a blow to the U.S. on Israeli soil. It demands moral clarity and a united front between Israel and the U.S. to defeat jihadist terror.”

2:20pm
The Jerusalem Center
@XAVIAERD says it like it is

Well, @XAVIAERD says it like it is: If you’re part of “#Queers for #Palestine,” he’ll pay for your flight to #Gaza. Go see for yourself how they treat LGBTQ+ people over there. Don’t miss this bold take on the Israel-Hamas war and the woke right.

2:32pm
The Jerusalem Center
“This isn’t Israel vs. Hamas — it’s the frontline of the free world.”

“This isn’t Israel vs. Hamas — it’s the frontline of the free world.” On Our Middle East by @JNS_org, @Dan_Diker@KhaledAbuToameh (JCFA/@GatestoneInst) break it down: If Hamas isn’t crushed, Iran wins. The jihadis—from #Gaza to your campus—get the green light. Diker: “This war is for the West.” No fluff. No filters. Just raw insight from two insiders who actually know what’s going on.  Watch: youtu.be/4Aq_zcbb4Yo

2:15pm
The Jerusalem Center
5/5 Lt. Col. Kalo on East to West with @smartinezamir:

“This operation showcases Israel’s strategic intelligence superiority both regionally and globally. It demonstrates the moral commitment to recovered soldiers and also strengthens Israel’s position with allies.” youtube.com/watch?v=nIvNNi

2:07pm
The Jerusalem Center
4/5 The operation built on intelligence gathered during the 2019 #Baumel recovery

#Mossad agents operated under cover in #Syria for years, visiting a graveyard multiple times under fire to collect remains for DNA matching. The intelligence community’s evolution combines technology, big data analysis, and human intelligence capabilities.

2:02pm

Close