Sharren Haskel: The Mainstream Media Completely Distorts Reality About Israel + Video

“Today the mainstream media completely distorts and twists the reality about Israel, and hatred against Jews is seeping into Europe along with migration. I believe Hungary may be the safest place for Jews today — both for visiting and for everyday life. And not because of words, but because of actions!” said Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister in an exclusive interview with Magyar Nemzet. Sharren Haskel responded to our questions on the Rapid Extra podcast.

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel (Photo: Arpad Kurucz)

Sharren Haskel, Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister, arrived in Hungary, where she will be a guest speaker at the MCC Fest in Esztergom. A former soldier during the Second Intifada, she gave an exclusive interview for Magyar Nemzet on the Rapid Extra podcast, discussing the war against Hamas, the humanitarian situation, Israel’s international image, growing antisemitism, and strengthening Hungarian–Israeli relations.

Sharren Haskel, Deputy Foreign Minister of the State of Israel, spoke to Magyar Nemzet about the wave of hatred against Jews in Europe and the responsibility of the media in demonizing Israel (Photo: Arpad Kurucz)

Let's start with recent developments, because we have a lot of ground to cover. In Washington in May, there was an atrocious attack against two Israeli embassy staff in front of a Jewish museum. Just a few days ago, north of Milan, a French man, wearing the traditional Jewish headwear – the kippah - pulls up at a gas station with his two sons aged 6 and 12. First, the a pro-Palestinian crowd starts chanting”Free Palestine, Free Palestine!”, then they start insulting and attacking them, leaving them seriously injured and traumatized. The man turns to the police, and he gets this response: "Go and tell Netanyahu to stop the bombings in Gaza!” The incident was recorded on video, and it drew condemnation as well as some inflammatory responses online. What is your take on this?

Well, what we see today is a massive wave of hatred and racism towards the Jewish community. And, I have to say, what you're experiencing here in Hungary is very different to what is happening in the rest of Europe and in other continents as well. My grandmother lives in Paris. She was attacked by a mob of Arabs six months ago, punched to the ground, kicked, just because she looks Jewish. My cousin in Norway didn't go to school for almost two years because she was too afraid, and she felt uncomfortable with comments and issues that were discussed in schools.

In London, my cousin's daughter – a little girl - was stabbed with a needle in class in a public school, just because she's Jewish. That's the reality of the Jewish community all around Europe. They're being verbally and physically attacked. They are targeting Jewish communities, Jewish businesses, anyone that looks like that, I don't think that there’s been such a harsh wave of hatred, racism, and antisemitism towards Jews since prior to the Second World War. Yet, your government here in Hungary has dealt with it, while many other governments didn't even bother to draw a red line to protect those communities.
Those people who attacked my grandmother and punched her to the ground were never caught, never persecuted. 

I think this, Hungary, is probably one of the safest places for Jews to visit and to live because of the actions, not words,

- because words are very nice - but the actions that were taken in order to protect and defend the Jewish communities. I think here, the lessons of the past were learned. You have to draw a red line. You have to speak out. You cannot be silent. And personally, not just as an Israeli representative, but as a Jew, I thank the Hungarian government for how they've been dealing with it, for instance by putting the pro-jihadist mobs under control. This is very different to what Jewish communities across Europe are actually experiencing.

Now, let me turn to the ominous date of October 7, 2023, when Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist organization, unleashed its terror at the Nova Festival, killing around 1,200 Israeli citizens as well as foreign nationals. There was a counter-offensive by Israel, and we are now into the 21st month of the war, which – some could argue – has left Israel's image somewhat tarnished. Leaders from Britain, France, Germany, and even Canada have criticized Israel's actions. Yet you, as a mother of three, pointed out that if faced with a choice between the life of your children or the sympathy of other nations, then for you, the choice is crystal clear. So, does that criticism mean that certain governments dispute Israel's right to self-defense?
- There are two aspects. The first is that the world loves victims. The vast majority don't love, don't like or don't support strong people, or people who are capable of defending themselves. But at the same time, look at what's happening around the world. In South Sudan, you have one of the worst crises, a true famine, where I think in the last couple of months 60,000 have died of starvation, real starvation. Children are being left on the side of the road. Did you hear anything about it? No. What about Syria? What about the Druze? Who came to their defense? When the Alawites were butchered, who came to their defense? When the Christians were murdered in the church, the Greek church in Syria, who came to their defense?

So, I'm sorry. We went through the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and we are capable of defending ourselves, defending our children. We are in a war of self-defense because our enemies are repeating, even today, in the media that if they have the opportunity, they will commit the same crimes against humanity, over and over again, raping little girls and burning them alive, or executing our grandparents, and beheading our people. Can I accept another case like that? No. The only way is to dismantle this terrorist organization. I understand that it is very difficult to accept that. And I also understand the political aspect of it. I might just add one other aspect here: Europe is experiencing a mass migration from the Middle East. We need to understand that in schools in Pakistan, in Syria, in Iraq, demonizing Jews is a as normal, as saying that the sun is shining outside.

Hatred and antisemitism are the norm there. This is part of the culture. And, when they come into a new country in Europe, they bring it with them.

instead of assimilating into that new culture, they are importing a lot of the problems from the Middle East to those countries. Take for example, England. The country has 200 parliamentarians who won their seats by a tiny margin of support from those Muslim communities. So, when they should embark on a debate and show their support, or keep their seats, they prefer their seats and the political gain: the vote of these communities over the moral values. As a politician, I understand, but I disagree with this. The first thing that needs to be in front of your eyes as a leader is not your own seat and not your own benefit, but the benefit of your country, of your people and your moral obligations.

Now that you mentioned the role of the media, you're known as perhaps the fiercest critic of the BBC from Israel. The BBC has come under fire recently for its documentary about Gaza, because it was narrated by none other than the 14-year-old son of a senior Hamas official, Hamas's deputy agriculture minister, I believe. But perhaps even more importantly, in just the first five months of its coverage of the war, the BBC made around 80 mistakes and false statements that it was later forced to correct, adjust or rectify. And this leads me to this question: is the mainstream media biased, or impartial towards Israel, and do you think this also plays a role in tarnishing the country’s image?
- Well, those apologies don't mean anything. Once they destroy Israel's reputation, broadcasting their content to millions of people around the world, how many people do you think hear a 20-second apology or correction? It’s not enough, I'm sorry. Look, I'll give you an example of one of their 'mistakes'. We, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had put out a statement before going into the Shifa hospital, that IDF troops are entering the hospital with Israeli medical staff, to evacuate patients from the hospital before the military will go in. Do you know what they published? That the IDF is going into the hospital shooting medical staff and patients! I have no idea how you can interpret something that way. They apologized about an hour later, correcting it. Does it help? No. People already have that image of Israel, and please tell me why they do it. Isn't that on purpose? Does someone have an agenda? Now, there's a campaign, a Hamas campaign, a terrorist organization's campaign, to blacken Israel's reputations with regard to the humanitarian issue, to try and avoid their responsibility for the humanitarian situation. 

The New York Times, as well as British newspapers and Italian newspapers, have put a picture of a child that looks to be in horrible condition. Except that they forgot to mention in the Italian newspaper that - since June - the child in Italy is being treated with cystic fibrosis, and that’s the reason he looks like he does. They are completely distorting the reality. I ask you, where is the responsibility of the mainstream media? Why don't they care about their reputation? Why don't they care about those facts? They are with a political agenda, with a goal, with a ­political goal, and they don't care about the facts. They don't care about the truth.

You mentioned the humanitarian effort in Gaza, and you specifically emphasized that Israel has embarked on an unprecedented humanitarian effort delivering medicine, fuel, food, and all sorts of essential supplies to the people of Gaza. Oftentimes, Hamas stands accused of looting these supplies and keeping the civilian population in Gaza at bay. Now, in a recent video post that you shared on X, you criticized the UN and UNRWA of complicity. You said they propagate lies about Israel, saying that Israel is blocking the aid supplies and starving the civilian population in Gaza, claims you categorically denied. So is, in your view, the UN and UNRWA part of the solution or part of the problem?
Well, they are trying to distort the reality and to push the responsibility, because the responsibility lies on their hand for the humanitarian crisis. Just check my social media channels and you'll see that - just in the recent days – we opened a logistics center inside Gaza with hundreds of truckloads of humanitarian aid. Who's not picking it up and distributing it? The United Nations. They have failed this mission and you need to understand why. If you look at conflicts, whether it's in Ukraine, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, or anywhere in the world, who's in charge of distributing humanitarian aid? The World Food Program, OCHA, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization. These are proper agencies that have the capability, the logistics and the knowledge to work in a war zone, in a disaster area. But they shoved that responsibility over to UNRWA, an organization that was literally taken over by Hamas, a terrorist organization, that is supposed to provide services to Palestinians on a day-to-day basis, not just in a humanitarian crisis. They don't have the knowledge or the logistics to actually do that. They've been failing this mission since day one, and they refuse to bring in the proper agencies and organizations to do the work that needs to be done. Why? Because they turned it into a political issue, and not a humanitarian issue.

Antonio Guterres knows that. They know they're failing the mission. But in order to try and force Israel to surrender, to put more pressure on Israel, they decided not to compromise an organization that is rotten to the core and is controlled by Hamas. Hamas is controlling the population and has pocketed millions of dollars since the beginning of the war through the aid that is shuffling in, through them. And the United Nations just turns a blind eye.

So the responsibility for the humanitarian crisis is on Hamas and the United Nations.

We have facilitated a route for the goods to come in. Moreover, the Americans facilitated a second channel of distribution through the Gaza Humanitarian Fund, where they actually give humanitarian aid, for free, to the Palestinian population. The Palestinians don't need to buy it, like they do from Hamas, in the markets. But unfortunately, the situation is not surprising, given that the United Nations – as an institution – has turned completely political and lost its moral compass, thereby causing serious damage.

You say Gaza's future must include reconstruction. But instead of the infrastructural and physical aspect of this reconstruction, you put the emphasis on education. You briefly mentioned the Abraham Accords, how it eliminated all antisemitic content and emphasized peace between Israel and its neighbors. You say the main conversation must be about how to deradicalize a population that's been indoctrinated for decades. So what are some concrete steps that Israel is taking to this end?

So first of all, we need to have a serious conversation about what future we want to hold. Because what you see right now in the Middle East is not a territorial dispute. This is not a territorial war, but a religious and cultural conflict. And territory is not going to resolve it. We tried a territorial solution in 2005 when Israel completely withdrew from the Gaza Strip, we eliminated all Jewish towns and villages. We gave the Palestinians autonomy, because the international community was so convinced that they need to apply a territorial solution, but it blew up in our faces and the international community disappeared with all its promises of security. And since then, we've been paying the price. And the entire Palestinian population has been radicalized by a terrorist organization, Hamas, through UNWRA - a United Nations organization that sponsors a radical deal with a jihadist education system. 

What we need to do, or what the international community needs to do, is to have a conversation about education.

The Abraham Accords are incredible in what they were able to build, not just from an economical perspective, but from an educational perspective. Many of the countries involved have completely reformed their education system to take out antisemitic content, and put in content that talks about the Second World War, about the peace agreement with Egypt, about the peace agreement with Jordan, so that the next generation of children are being raised on this idea that peace and stability are an actual possibility, for the Arab and Jews. And that's what we need to have the conversation about, that the jihadist education system in the Palestinian territories needs to be changed into an education system that speaks about coexistence. And then maybe there'll be a new generation that will accept that.

 As much as the key word in Israel's region is deradicalization, perhaps when it comes to uncontrolled mass migration towards Europe, the key word is integration. In 2015, Prime Minister Orban's conservative government erected a solid border fence and said a resounding no to mass illegal migration. Just a week ago at Baile Tusnad, in Romania, the Hungarian prime minister said: in 10 years, the Hungarian prime minister's job is going to be not just to protect the country's southern borders, but also to protect its western borders from immigration from within the EU. So can Western Europe integrate its predominantly Muslim migrant population without mass expulsions and stricter border protection, or the parallel societies, no-go zones, and antisemitism are just here to stay?

So Europe’s immigration program is a suicidal program. It completely changed and is destroying the European culture, the European traditions, the European aspect. Look at what's happening in France. There's no place for Jews in France anymore. Personally, I think it's too late. I wrote an article to a French newspaper saying, the Jewish people are going to be fine. They have a home.They have a shelter they can always run to during persecution. But I'm really concerned about the French people. Where will they go? 

I think that the policy followed by the Hungarian government actually saved your values, your traditions, and your culture. 

Look at what's happening around you! You see the infiltration of Iran, of Hezbollah, of ISIS in so many European countries. Terrorist groups are collaborating with criminal organizations, whether it's in Sweden or in Belgium. Those governments know about this. They now need to fight a serious problem that they’ve imported from the Middle East. If you don't have a proper assimilation program, and trust me, we know about it, as we've accepted Jewish communities from everywhere around the world, from Latin America, Ethiopia, Africa, Australia, Europe, everywhere, Thailand, India. This assimilation program talks about the language and the culture, and several of its aspects, but there's none of that in Europe. No one's talking about it. Instead there's mass immigration, and immigrants are importing radical ideas, ideology, and problems from the Middle East into Europe.

And lastly, the Hungarian government has a proclaimed zero-tolerance policy against all forms of antisemitism. Authorities just recently banned an Irish hip-hop band called Kneecap because they were promoting anti-Semitic content. When the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against your prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister Orban's government withdrew from the ICC and instead decided to honor Mr. Netanyahu's visit here in Budapest, at the beginning of April. In short: the relations are good. What do you think are the most important pillars of this cooperation between the two countries, and are there perhaps any Hungarian government policy elements that you think other countries should also consider?

First of all, we thank the Hungarian government for stopping a band like Kneecap, which is a clearly antisemitic band. But you need to understand that it's not just a racist band. This is a band whose members are being investigated in their own country for promoting a terrorist organization, for waving the flag of Hezbollah, which is officially listed as a terrorist organization. So these are full-on terrorist supporters. Think about it! On the 7th of October, the 8th of October, before Israel even set foot in Gaza, you already saw demonstrations, whether it was in London, Paris, New York or Australia. But what were these protesters demanding? A ceasefire in a war that hadn't even started? Or the distribution of humanitarian aid? No! They were celebrating the massacre of October 7!

In Sydney, on the steps of the Opera House, they were chanting: "Gas the Jews!” That1s what bands like Kneecap are actually promoting.

But the Jews are just a symptom. If you look back on the lyrics and rhetoric… and there was another rap group in one of the festivals, also chanting death chants and things like that… so before they were promoting racism and hatred towards the Jews, they promoted hatred towards Western democracies like the UK and other countries, chanting "death to the police!”
You in Europe have a major problem of a fashionable movement, an anti-Western democracy movement that has become very fashionable, and it’s spreading hatred of your own European culture. It teaches people to hate that culture, and to hate those people. And that's a great concern because they are collaborating with radical jihadists. They're not afraid of waving their flags and to use murder, death and the most horrifying forms of terrorism and to try and turn them into legitimate actions. So, this is not just Israel's or the Jewish community's problem. This is a European problem that must be addressed as well. And I'm greatly concerned about it.

And what collaboration do I see that needs to be happening? First of all, we have a very close collaboration with the Hungarian government on many levels, definitely on the security level. In October, our foreign minister is going to come with a big business delegation to see how businessmen can invest more in Hungary, and how we can create more collaborations on that level as well. Obviously, we have science and technology cooperation too, and a cultural center is being built now in Jerusalem, by your embassy. These are incredible actions that are building bridges. 

And I have to say something about PM Orban's position regarding the International Criminal Court (ICC) as well. Because that takes a very brave and tough decision with moral clarity that you need to have, to be able to stand up and declare it clearly. The international justice system is being used by radical jihadists right now as a political tool. Israel has such a such a strict system of regulations that we adhere to in any military operation, taking great measures to avoid civilian casualties that no other country, no other army, not the American, not the British, and not the French, can compare to these standards. So if Israel is being prosecuted by the ICC, that means that no army in the world will be safe from the ICC in a war of self-defense, because no one is taking these kinds of precautionary measures. This precedent is dangerous, not just for Israel, but for every sovereign state.

Cover photo: Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel (Photo: Arpad Kurucz)