Major anti-Israel bias revealed in media coverage of Iran war – study

International news outlets scrutinized legality of Israel’s conduct during the war with Iran more than three times as much as they questioned permissibility of Iran’s attacks – including those targeting hospitals and civilian areas.

By World Israel News Staff

International news media outlets appeared to demonstrate a bias in their coverage against Israel and in favor of Iran during the 12-day war between the two countries this June, according to a new study.

On Monday, the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) released the findings from a study conducted using advanced artificial intelligence tools to analyze news stories from 17 leading international news sites with a combined exposure of more than 2 billion users in June.

The JPPI study found that during the June war there was extensive discussion on these platforms questioning the legality of Israel’s actions in the war, while only a relatively small percentage of coverage addressed the legality of Iran’s actions.

According to the researchers, out of hundreds of articles that dealt with the legality of wartime actions, 77% of the legal coverage focused on Israel, while only 23% dealt with Iran.

The report noted that the bias remained constant, regardless of Iran’s actions, including the use of banned weapons in attacks on civilian areas.

Even when Iran fired missiles with cluster warheads at Israeli cities and struck medical facilities, the study indicates that there was very little discussion in the global media about the legality of Iran’s actions.

Major Western news outlets, including CNN and The New York Times, dedicated an average of 77% of their coverage of legal questions regarding the fighting to Israel’s actions, while other non-Western outlets in some cases demonstrated an even stronger bias. Al Jazeera English, for example, dedicated 92% of its coverage on the legality of the war to scrutinizing Israel’s conduct.

The study also found that the focus on Israel’s legality began immediately at the outbreak of hostilities and continued almost consistently throughout its course — including on days when Israeli population centers, academic institutions, and a major hospital were attacked. In 11 out of 12 days of fighting, there was greater coverage on average of the legality of Israel’s conduct under international law than that of Iran.

The findings further show that although Iran systematically fired indiscriminately at civilian targets in Israel, including the prohibited use of cluster bombs directly on cities, media coverage more often dealt with the legality of Israel’s attacks on civilians, civilian buildings, medical facilities, and medical personnel — more than with Iran’s attacks on those same targets in Israel.

Another form of bias favoring Iran was the selective citation of officials from Iran during the war to defend their country’s actions while accusing Israel of violating international law. While Iranian officials were frequently quoted in this regard during the war, Israeli officials were rarely given the same opportunity.

The researchers — including Yaakov Katz, Dr. Robert Neufeld, Shlomi Barznik, and Eli Kanai — recommend that in future conflicts, the Government of Israel should release an official report already at the outbreak of events, explaining the legality of IDF actions and pointing out the enemy’s violations of international law, in addition to a report published immediately after hostilities end. A report by the Foreign Ministry published about six weeks after the war was “too little, too late.”

“The findings show a clear bias in media coverage: Israel is examined under a legal microscope, while Iran, which carried out systematic fire on civilian populations, is treated more leniently,” said Dr. Neufeld.

“Smarter use of legal rhetoric by state officials and stronger presence in the international arena are essential in the battle for public perception.”

The study analyzed news coverage from outlets including The New York Times, CNN, Times of India, New York Post, Al Jazeera, The Washington Post, NPR, Politico, Newsweek, CBC, Sky News, The Daily Telegraph, Sydney Morning Herald, LA Times, TIME Magazine, Irish Times, and The Chicago Tribune.