Tunnels-to-kindergartens propaganda Netanyahu peddled to NYT and CNN is exploded by Israeli news site -
One of the most important strikes in the propaganda war for Israel in the last month was dealt by the New York Times and CNN when
they ran long pieces giving credence to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuās claim that Hamas was building tunnels out of Gaza aimed at kindergartens in nearby kibbutzes.
Back on July 22, Netanyahu assertedā on the basis of this cartoon drawing he tweetedā that the tunnels were
aimed at Israeli kindergartens.

Netanyahu tweeted this cartoon evidence on July 22
In fact (and
as we reported), the only Israelis attacked from the tunnels were Israeli soldiers. But a week after Netanyahuās statement,
both the Times and CNN took the prime ministerās claim at face value. The Timesās piece, ā
Tunnels Lead Right to Heart of Israeli Fearā gave priority to rumors over actual information, and reported that āone tunnel was found over the weekendā in Kibbutz Beāeri. The piece quoted a resident of the kibbutz saying,
āThe tunnels, itās game-changing. We canāt do anything if the terrorists will come to our kindergarten. The tunnels, itās very surprising, it can hit you donāt know where.ā
Now it turns out no tunnel was found in Kibbutz Beāeri.
The Israeli site +972 has blown that propaganda completely out of the water. A well-
researched article in Hebrew that it translated from an educational worker near Gaza states that the tunnels do not appear to be targeted at civilians and they come out more than a mile from any kibbutz, let alone the kindergartens.
In short, the tunnels fear was hysteria, drummed up by the Israeli government to heighten war fever, and then purveyed by the New York Times and CNN.
The
piece at +972 ā which is headlined in part, āIn reality, every tunnel so far has been used against military targets aloneā ā was published in Hebrew on ā
Local Call,ā and written by Emanual Yelin, who lives in Beāer Sheva and is said to work near the Gaza border. Yelin is a full-on Israeli patriot, but he has no truck with the lies and propaganda disseminated around the tunnels.
Here are excerpts of the Q-and-A he asks and answers.
Q. Was Benjamin Netanyahu right in his national address when he
said āwe will not end the mission, we will not end the operation, without neutralizing the tunnels that exist solely to annihilate our civilians and to kill our children?ā
A. No. It is certain that this is not their sole purpose, and probably not their primary purpose, either. Weāve already seen six instances in which Hamas was able to use the tunnels against Israel. Once when Gilad Shalit was captured, and the rest during the current operation.
In all instances, Hamasā target were IDF soldiers, not the communitiesā¦.
Q. So what is the purpose of the tunnels?
Most likely to hurt IDF forces and capture soldiers. Little by little we are starting to hear military reporters saying this explicitlyā¦
Q. So we can be certain that the tunnels will not be used for terrorism against civilians in the kibbutzim along the barrier wall?
A. No. We must not become complacentā¦
Q. But if they didnāt want to hurt communities, why did they dig tunnels under dining halls and kindergartens inside those communities?
A. Hereās the thing: they didnāt.
It turns out that there were no tunnels into the communities. The tunnel into the Kisufim dining hall? That was an
old sewer line [Hebrew] mistakenly identified as a tunnel shaftā¦
Q. So where do the tunnels go?
A.
Probably just a few hundred meters from the barrier wall and a few kilometers from the communities. Itās hard to find accurate data about where the exit shafts are. But in all five instances of infiltration, the militants emerged 200-400 meters away from the wall, as can be seen on the maps in the
IDF Spokesperson videos. For example, the alleged penetration into Kisufim was 1.5 kilometers away from the community. And actually, the tunnelās exit point is just as close to Kibbutz Sufa.
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Tunnels-to-kindergartens propaganda Netanyahu peddled to NYT and CNN is exploded by Israeli news site