Former Israeli Soldier Exposes Military Media Manipulation and Labeling of Palestinians
According to the International Desk of Webangah News Agency, Ayelet Kreuzer, a former female soldier in the Israeli military who served in the Spokesperson’s Unit, has admitted to personally editing and tailoring information sent to media outlets. She explained that within the military spokesperson’s establishment, information was not treated as objective reality, but rather as a tool to serve the institution’s media objectives.
Kreuzer, who currently serves as a spokesperson for the organization Breaking the Silence, stated in a post on the social media platform X that her background in the army spokesperson’s unit demonstrated how the institution manages and controls the reflection of field realities in Gaza and the West Bank. According to her, she witnessed firsthand the distortion of facts based on media goals, noting that the spokesperson’s unit functioned more like a public relations organization than an entity committed to reflecting the truth.
Recounting her background, Kreuzer noted that she was raised in a Haredi community and was initially exempt from military service due to religious requirements. However, about three years ago, amid the war, she decided to revoke her exemption and join the army. She recalled that at the time, she believed entering the military would allow her to contribute to defending Israel, never imagining that her service would eventually lead her to Breaking the Silence—an organization that publishes narratives and testimonies of former soldiers regarding the military’s conduct in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Describing the military’s media approach, the former soldier emphasized that messages were adapted depending on the target audience. For the domestic audience, the primary priority was maintaining public trust in the army, while the public’s right to know ranked second. She added that news regarding military operations was structured to avoid damaging confidence in the military structure, even if it meant omitting or altering parts of reality.
According to Kreuzer, regarding foreign audiences, the main objective was to legitimize military operations. In both arenas, truth was sacrificed for media objectives aimed at boosting domestic confidence and securing foreign legitimacy. In another part of her accounts, she stated, ‘During my service, I manipulated the details transmitted to the media and saw how the term ‘saboteur’ was even attributed to innocent Palestinians.’
The former soldier added that military statements were drafted according to audience targets, and data was never provided to the media in its true form. Regarding news of high-casualty attacks, Kreuzer stated she had learned the method of reporting the deaths of dozens in a strike and automatically appending the phrase ‘regret over harm to uninvolved individuals.’ She noted that this sentence had become a permanent part of statements, representing a routine daily practice within the military spokesperson’s unit rather than an exception.
She also pointed to the conflict between her personal beliefs and assigned duties in the military, saying, ‘I was never good at remaining silent in the face of injustice, but here I found myself in a situation where I had to do public relations for it.’ Kreuzer concluded that this experience transformed her outlook, making her realize that part of her duty was not informing the public, but managing public opinion and justifying military actions.
Breaking the Silence is an Israeli organization established in 2004 by a group of former soldiers who served in Hebron. It collects and publishes testimonies from soldiers concerning the Israeli military’s actions in the occupied Palestinian territories. The organization publishes accounts regarding the treatment of Palestinians, property destruction, restrictions imposed on residents’ lives, and other military actions, stating that received testimonies are reviewed and cross-referenced before publication.
