You know, Dagan, I want to get back to what
we began with
an appalling, appalling moment for the United States media that
was not lost upon any of us to immediately spew
pro terrorist talking points across outlets across the major wire
of the United States blaming the hospital attack,
like that knee jerk reaction blaming it on Israel.
Take a look at the New York Times.
They're they're called the Gray Lady,
right? The the most esteemed newspaper in our country.
Well, here's what they did.
This is a Moments after that happened,
Israeli strike kills hundreds in hospital.
Palestinians say no. Hamas said that Hamas is a terrorist
organization.
Well then they they realized,
oh, maybe we should back up
at least 500 dead in strike.
Notice the word strike on Gaza Hospital,
Palestinians say, before finally landing at at least 500 dead
in blast at Gaza Hospital.
Palestinians say we now know it was Islamic Jihad.
But this is what I'm talking about.
Watching and waiting for the media to flip the script
and turn it right back on Israel.
They were proven wrong by our own president.
This is 2 more than two hours later.
We should point out in the first of first mention
to the last mention that you're pinpointing.
It's more than 2 1/2 hours later that they finally
say the Israeli military said just a few things
Palestinians say, which you saw in other instances.
That's purposeful. It's intentionally bearing the fact that they knowingly
were regurgitating Hamas terrorist propaganda,
again quoting terrorists rather than just waiting.
Why should you even just say there's been an explosion
at a hospital
in Gaza, full stop? Because for a number of reasons
that you know even
it it most recently going back to 2014,
the last time Israel had boots on the ground in
Gaza,
that it was widely reported that Hamas stores weapons inside
hospitals and schools
that these missiles misfire by by Hamas 30 to 40%
of the time because they're made in part from old
water pipes.
So and maybe have a
soul and a brain and don't regurgitate a terrorist propaganda.
But the other thing is
why did they all pounce on this like they did?
Because their bias betrays them.
They want it to be true because underneath they are
on the side of Hamas.
These are journalists and even though we shouldn't call them
that,
who are anti Israel and anti-Semitic because they were educated
in the very colleges we'll be talking about later in
the show.
And no doubts. And this comes as the Israeli Defense
Forces are pushing back against Hamas's allegations,
their propaganda, and blasting the media for their coverage of
the deadly hospital explosion in Gaza,
as they should, Accusing the Press
of rushing to judgement before all of the facts were
known,
IDF Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner challenged CNN on their
coverage earlier today.
Watch this moment.
If you're asking for proof,
you know you don't really want the proof,
you just want to make sure you have a story.
And unfortunately, there have so been so much premature.
Hang on, I don't want you to suggest,
hang on, Peter, this that is unfair.
I do not want you to suggest that we are
not seeking the truth,
Peter Lerner. We are trying to seek the proof.
And that was the question that I asked you and
you've provided what what you can at this point and
and I appreciate that.
But please don't suggest that we're not trying to identify
the truth because that is exactly what we
are doing. So you'll never be,
you'll never be content with whatever I share because you'll
ask for more and more and more and more.
You know when you can take what I say for
face value.
And as I say I don't have to believe.
I am reporting what other people what the
what the Palestinians are asking for.
But it's not the Palestinians you are parroting.
What? I'm going to leave it there.
It's good to have you.
Peter Lerner. It's good to.
Have you, Sir.
Understood.
What a moment. Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner joins us now.
You know, Lieutenant Colonel, prior to that moment,
you were asked for evidence.
You gave evidence. You held up an Al Jazeera broadcast
showing the trajectory of the rocket.
You said IDF was not firing rockets at that time.
I heard at least three pieces of evidence.
So how frustrating is it to then have the media
reiterate terrorist talking points before you're even able to give
your evidence?
I I mean, you've probably seen me on television.
I'm usually very calm and collected
very I I try and keep a mild view and
I understand that there is,
you have a job to do and I have a
job to do.
But I found it extremely frustrating that
Hamas gets this platform. And I could not stop but
thinking
about an organization that butchers babies in their bedrooms
and then they get to say to the media and
it's just
automatically accepted as fact. Hamas says and and and as
if it's enough that you attribute it to Hamas and
then you should it should be accepted or broadcasted
and and that's why this morning I I had that
very exceptional
exchange with with
CNNI don't like that's not me that's not how I
I convey my messaging.
I prefer to be very straightforward and factual
and and less on the emotional side because I do
believe that people are interested in in facts
but I just you know I just basically lost it
this morning and I'm sorry for that because I did
that's not what I want.
I don't think it actually benefits anybody view any viewers
to get mad over it,
especially in my official role.
This conflict is a conflict that in an environment that
is saturated by media and especially social media,
some of the news media are in an endless chase
after what's happening
on social media and then trying to keep up with
that.
You can't compete with social media and and and you
guys need to know that you can't compete with social
media.
Therefore, if something comes out on social media and you
don't have to be 100%
certain that this actually happened,
that you're not being manipulated because there is so much
fake news coming out,
there is so much
misinformation and disinformation that it it undermines what you're trying
to do for your viewers.
You are trying to give a good service to people
who want to be informed and when you fail like
this,
you're failing. First of all you're failing failing your viewers
but you're failing the story and and and I felt
for the victims of their of Hamas's terrorist attack this
morning and that's why I I I
I was very, very direct.
You know, I I I felt the need to do
that.
I actually have a friend that sent me the caption
of Fox News this morning and I found that that
to be the most
realistic conveying of of what actually was happening as
as it was developing. So yes,
you need to know that
there is a responsibility in reporting.
There is a responsibility when covering conflict
and and and and in this
these crazy times in in in times of conflict
we need to we need to be responsible and stand
up to to that responsibility.
So I'm I'm, you know I'm thankful and I I
appreciate the time.
All of, and I've been interviewed from
Ireland today to the UK
the US to Australia all over the world.
I've been presenting Israel's case in order to try to
get this message across that Hamas cannot be trusted.
This is an organization that will butcher babies in their
bedrooms.
They'll have no problem lying to you
and that we need to address
Hamas's communication effort, their propaganda effort,
as if we were listening to North Korea.
There is no free voice there.
There is. You can't trust them.
So please don't give them any credits.
More than than I would say don't give them any
credit.
That's basically what I'm trying to say.
Yeah. If you if you burn babies alive,
I think it's fair to say we should question your
knee jerk reaction and your so-called facts.
You know, our own president,
President Biden was asked what data do you have?
How do you know that IDF wasn't behind this?
He said data from my own Department of Defense.
So I think that's established at this point.
But Lieutenant Colonel, this is as much of A war
of information.
You see what happened just yesterday,
The knee jerk reaction of blaming IDF.
How do you combat this as a potential ground invasion
takes place.
The knee jerk reaction to embrace disinformation because it took
time for Israel to Get the facts together.
You got the facts, you got the images,
you put it out. But not lost upon us was
the fact that Hamas was out right away without the
facts putting out misinformation.
Blaming this on you on IDF.
So I'm hoping that the,
the, the, the world media are watching this event today
and I think that they're and we've seen over the
course of the day a lot of toning down and
you you showed the New York Times and eventually So
I'm hoping that in the next if if there will
be an event such as this in the next time,
we will first of all be able to respond rapidly.
But also that the reporters and the journalists,
and they won't be after this,
this crazed seek of attention to break the story 1st
and and then tell a story that is factually wrong,
inaccurate or misleading, we've seen over the course of the
day.
And I'm sure you've covered what's going on in in
Lebanon outside the US Embassy
and we saw last night outside the embassy of Israel
in in Jordan.
Words have meaning. They create action.
It is created. And and this is this is what
what's happened.
So we need to be,
I would say we you have a responsibility.
We have a responsibility. We have professional ethics.
You have professional ethics. Let's live up to them.
Let's not do the hyperbole.
Let's not do the the
factually unclear stories. Let's make sure that terrorists are not
abusing
the access they have to you.
Another colleague that I have,
that I work with sent me today.
Why aren't you inviting me to such and such an
event on with the
with journalists is I get invited by Hamas through everything
and that I that's that.
You know we have access,
but we have limited access.
Hamas just sends his propaganda out to everybody and gives
them access,
but it's not true access.
It's all manipulation
about it. Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner,
thank you very much for your time.