Yedioth Ahronoth and its online version Ynet(both English and Hebrew) have been the no. 1 news outlet in Israel. With both national and local news(through its local edition, mynet), it provides millions of Israelis and people interested in Israeli affairs a window into the Israeli society and how Israelis see MENA and the conflict(while Ma’an News Agency would be the window into Palestinian society).
As I read the articles and comments on Ynet(both Hebrew and English), I have discovered many interesting aspects of how Israelis see the conflict.
- Netanyahu’s supporters are more likely to post comments in English while Hebrew comments are more heterogenous.
- Hamas-mocking is one of the most common ways Israeli netizens react to comments and statements by third parties and/or celebs about the conflict.
- Kahanists and Lehava or La Familia sympathizers compose a higher percentage of comments written on Ynetnews’ English website than on Hebrew website.
- Israeli Arabs usually refrain from commenting on Ynet websites while comments from Israeli Arabs are more common on Twitter.
- Netanyahu’s opponents comment more on articles about Netanyahu while Netanyahu’s supporters comment more on articles about other Israeli politicians.
One of the interesting cases would be an article about Bella Hadid. She posted on her Instagram her father’s US Passport, which showed his birthplace as “Palestine”(Mohamed Anwar Hadid was born in Nazareth in November 1948 and the family moved to Jordan shortly after), and the picture was blocked. Bella Hadid pointed out that it’s anti-Palestinian, and the picture was re-instated, and it turned out that it was a mistake when the picture was blocked. On the comment section of the article about this incident, the comments can be divided into 5 types:
Type I — — — Hamas-mocking, or how someone would be killed in Gaza by Hamas for doing something.
Type II — — — Saying that there are no Palestinians. Israelis and Palestinians on the internet often argue against each other by denying the existence of the other national identity.
Type III — — — Pointing out that it’s nothing unusual to have “Palestine” on passport if someone was born in Mandatory Palestine.
Type IV — — — Pointing out that Nazareth was already Israeli when Mohamed Anwar Hadid was born.
Type V — — — Talking about how Palestinians reject peace.
Overall, the comments and articles on Ynet and Ynetnews provide a window for everyone interested in how Israelis think.
