In light of the internal violence sweeping Israel in the last week, so far costing two civilian lives, it is not surprising that many journalists also find themselves targeted. A KAN 11 crew, including reporter Yoav Zehavi and photographer Rolic (Roland) Dorje, were violently attacked in the Southern Tel Aviv Tikva neighborhood. Ayala Hasson was attacked in Lod, Omri Meniv, Channel 13 reporter in Jaffa, and more journalists became targets of violent attempts, physical in some cases, and verbal in others.
The violence against reporters was not generated in the streets. Like all other kinds of violence, it is fueled every day, every hour, by dangerous incitement in the wide-open world of social media. The more difficult the time, the tenser the public, social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter and TikTok take on their usual role as a cesspit in which anyone can unleash anger and incite against those who hold different opinions.
The inflammatory posts by the prime minister's son are not, of course, a war-time novelty, they are abundantly present also in times of calm, but these days it is hardly possible to visit social media sites without being flooded by various expressions of hate and poison, accompanied by mocking pictures and worse.
Just as in the Trump era in the US, the hatred of journalists became a routine and legitimate tool for citizens wishing to vent their anger.