Change in Mainstream Media Script on Gaza and 'Israel'

By Misión Verdad – May 16, 2025

Media outlets in the United States and Europe have recently published editorials and opinion articles against Israel’s genocide in Gaza. This phenomenon could be more causal than casual, given the support or, at least, the deliberate media invisibilization of the Zionist aggression that has left at least 52,928 dead in Gaza.

“Israel” itself has officially recognized that 82% of its victims in Gaza are civilians. On Thursday May 15 alone, 103 people were killed in bombings, most of them in Khan Younis.

Change of media script
The media, which usually make cynical headlines about the “deaths” in Gaza and the West Bank without naming the perpetrator or its sponsors, are executing a change of script in this regard, with headlines showing a wave of “indignation.” British newspapers are showing it in this way:

“The West’s shameful silence on Gaza” is the headline of the May 6 editorial in the Financial Times. It denounces the United States and Europe for having “barely uttered a word of condemnation” of their ally’s criminality, and states that “they should be ashamed of their silence, and stop enabling Netanyahu to act with impunity.”
The Economist headlined an article on May 8, “The war in Gaza must end,” arguing that Trump should press the Netanyahu regime for a ceasefire. It adds that “the only people who benefit from continuing the war are Mr Netanyahu, who keeps his coalition intact, and his far-right allies, who dream of emptying Gaza and rebuilding Jewish settlements there.”
On May 10, The Independent published an article headlined “End the deafening silence on Gaza – It is time to speak up.” It is an editorial stating that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer “should be ashamed that he said nothing, especially since Mr. Netanyahu has now announced new plans to expand the already devastating bombardment of Gaza,” and that “it is time for the world to wake up to what is happening and demand an end to the suffering of the Palestinians trapped in the enclave.”
The next day the Guardian editorial board continued the chorus with a text entitled “The Guardian view on Israel and Gaza: Trump can stop this horror. The alternative is unthinkable,” in which it asserts that the US president “has the leverage to force a ceasefire. If he fails to do so, he will implicitly signal approval of what looks like a plan for total destruction.”

In addition, CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour recently expressed her displeasure at the insensitivity of Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel. Questioned about the famine caused by the occupation state’s blockade of humanitarian aid in Gaza, Haskel refuted the claims on the grounds that they are based on false information disseminated by Hamas.

Thomas L. Friedman, a columnist well known for his support of the US invasion of Iraq and Israeli terrorism, published an article entitled “This Israeli government is not our ally.” The three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning neoconservative argues that the Netanyahu administration “is the first government in Israel’s history whose priority is not peace with more of its Arab neighbors and the benefits that greater security and coexistence would bring. Its priority is the annexation of the West Bank, the expulsion of the Palestinians of Gaza and the re-establishment of Israeli settlements there.”

In addition, he describes the negative effects that the genocidal actions of the Western-installed and sponsored apartheid entity would have on US alliances with Egypt, Jordan, and other countries of the region.

Political voices and Trump’s blind eye
Political actors with a pro-Israel bent have also exhibited a script flip. UK Conservative MP Mark Pritchard told the House of Commons last week that he had supported Israel “at all costs” for decades, but said “I was wrong” and publicly withdrew that support over the entity’s actions in Gaza.

Shaiel Ben-Ephraim, a pro-Israel diplomat and academic, had accused Israel’s critics of “blood libel” throughout the Gaza rampage. In an article he has come out and publicly admitted that the entity is committing genocide that must be opposed.

A report by The Jerusalem Post claims that Trump is allegedly preparing to recognize Palestine as a state and then take control of Gaza with a temporary “US administration,” thereby mimicking the British mandate of the early 20th century. However, the article also cites a former Gulf diplomat expressing skepticism, given that neither Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi nor Jordanian King Abdullah II have been invited to the alleged declaration.

The US president toured West Asia, but said little about the situation in Gaza and only named “Israel” to insist that the leaders of the region normalize relations with the Zionist state within the framework of the Abraham Accords. He did so in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, while meeting with the Al-Qaeda member who now rules Syria, Al-Sharaa.

Washington agreed to a ceasefire with the Ansarallah movement in Yemen that did not include Israel. Given this and other signals, Ariel Kahana of the daily Israel Hayom stated that the US president has set out to advance his objectives in West Asia without waiting for “Israel” because “Netanyahu is delaying taking the necessary decisions.”

Apparently Trump is angry with the Israeli prime minister and his circle for what he sees as an attempt to pressure the White House to take military action against Iran’s nuclear program.

Tel Aviv considers compromising its national stability on three fronts: the Iranian nuclear program, regional defense agreements, and the conflict in Gaza. In addition, senior army, Shin Bet and Mossad commanders conveyed their concerns in this regard to Netanyahu.

77 Years of Ongoing Nakba: The Crumbling Zionist Project and the Revolutionary Road to Liberation and Return

Gaza put warmongers’ popularity at stake
The scenario is complicated for Trump given that, according to recent polls, US public opinion of “Israel” has become more negative over the past three years. More than half of US adults (53%) now express an unfavorable opinion, up from 42% in March 2022, before the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack and subsequent Zionist invasion of the Gaza Strip.

According to Pew Research Center, US public confidence in Netanyahu is low (32%), interest in the military offensive against the Palestinian people has fallen, and somewhat or very unfavorable opinion of “Israel” has increased (53% vs. 42% in 2022).

While Trump seems to be paying attention to the polls, this is not the case with Netanyahu, who is moving forward with Palestinian extermination while stating, “I think we will have to wean ourselves off American security assistance.”

The US president is experiencing approval ratings that have reached historic lows not seen by any other president in recent decades—except himself in 2017 during his first term—according to a new poll by The Washington Post, ABC News, and Ipsos released on April 25.

The script change could stem from these trends, in addition to the need he has to align his fuel suppliers to stabilize the shock he has provoked with his tariff wave.

It would not be the first time that the media is trying to help with damage control that would not only be attributed to Trump but to the entire Western political establishment. In Friedman’s case, his major concerns are the advantages that Iran and China would gain from extermination, or the war crimes charges against Israeli commanders and politicians that the disappearance of Gaza would provoke, not the Palestinians slaughtered by droves.

The Axis of Resistance in West Asia has not yielded as expected and Trump could join the list of his warmongering predecessors who have hit the same wall.

(Misión Verdad)

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/SC/DZ