Israeli Special Envoy for Combating Global Antisemitism and Delegitimization Noa Tishby participated in a televised political panel on Tuesday, comparing liberal bias in the US media to double standards against Israel.
Tishby, a volunteer whose position is not at the ambassador level like her US counterpart, took part in the Fox News program Outnumbered under her special envoy title, with Israeli Consulate in New York Spokesman Itay Milner prepping her for the show.
Preparing with @noatishby for @OutnumberedFNC. Starting now! pic.twitter.com/sUxz5y5YhG
— Itay Milner (@ItayMilner) June 14, 2022
In a clip on the Fox News website, Tishby can be seen smiling and nodding as the panel discussed Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi’s mugshot for his drunk driving arrest, in which she criticized the media for not giving it the same focus as if it were the spouse of a Republican politician.
After about four minutes of discussion about the Pelosis, Outnumbered co-host Harris Faulkner said to Tishby that it looked like she had a “visceral reaction” to some of the conversation.
“What we’re talking about is an obvious double standard the media has about this story,” Tishby said, adding, “There was an attempt to kill a Supreme Court judge [Brett Kavanaugh] that’s hardly been talked about in mainstream media.
“I know this all too well as an Israeli, because talk about a double standard when it comes to covering Israel and covering the conflict in the Middle East"
Noa Tishby, Israeli Special Envoy for Combating Global Antisemitism and Delegitimization
“I know this all too well as an Israeli, because talk about a double standard when it comes to covering Israel and covering the conflict in the Middle East. This is something that I have been dealing with for a long, long time so this is not something that is only in the mainstream media when it talks about American issues,” she said.
Referring to last year’s war in Gaza and the thousands of rockets Hamas launched into Israel, Tishby said the media only covered it in terms of “Israel did this, Israel did that.”
That double standard, she added, “needs to be addressed, whether local American [news] or international.”
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid appointed Tishby – an actress, producer and activist – as Israel’s special envoy for fighting antisemitism and delegitimization in April.
One of the advantages the Foreign Ministry cited when announcing the appointment was that she is well-connected “with influential figures among Democrats and progressives.”
A Foreign Ministry spokesperson denied that Tishby spoke about partisan political issues, saying she was present for the panel but only spoke about issues related to antisemitism.
In the US, the position of antisemitism envoy has been elevated to the level of ambassador, which requires cabinet approval. The current US envoy is Deborah Lipstadt, an internationally known historian and expert on the Holocaust and antisemitism.
Tishby, 44, is not a government employee, and her appointment was not authorized by the cabinet.
She is best known in Israel for starring in the 1990s soap opera Ramat Aviv Gimmel, and for being the first person to sell an Israeli television show to be adapted in the US – In Treatment – to HBO. She became increasingly involved in Israel advocacy after moving to Los Angeles, and last year published the book Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth.