An IDF spokesman calls several renowned journalists ‘Jew-haters’. Those affected feel threatened by this ‘enemy list’. They do not receive support from their unions.
Arye Sharuz Shalicar is regarded as the German face of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). Having grown up in Berlin, the major, who now lives in Israel, acted as one of its official spokespersons for a long time before going into the reserves in 2017. Shalicar was called up again on 7 October 2023. He was on duty until the end of December and since then ‘every now and then when I’m needed’, he told ‘nd’. The IDF confirms this information.
The 48-year-old is tasked with explaining Israel’s perspective on the Gaza war to the German public and runs a newsletter and produces a podcast entitled ‘War Report from Israel’. In it, however, the media reservist mainly focuses on the war in Palestine and demonises the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip: not a single Palestinian has saved hostages – unlike Germans who helped Jews under the Nazis, Shalicar claimed on X.
On the short messaging service X, the IDF spokesperson is particularly present. His postings on a private account contain insults and strong language. Last week, Shalicar labelled several German journalists alongside a Mera25 politician and a streamer as ‘’Top 10 propagators of Jew-hatred‘’. Among them are Deutsche Welle correspondent Martin Gak, TV journalist Stephan Hallmann and video blogger Tilo Jung – all known for their professional reporting on the Gaza war, but also for their Palestinian perspectives.
The defamation by Shalicar did not refer to content that the journalists had published on X themselves: Rather, the military spokesman sees their silence on Shiri Bibas and her young sons Ariel and Kfir, who were taken hostage by Hamas on 7 October and whose remains were recently handed over to Israel as part of the ceasefire agreement, as evidence of ‘hatred towards the Jews’. While Hamas blames an Israeli airstrike for their deaths, IDF spokespersons claim that the three were ‘murdered with their bare hands’ by their Palestinian kidnappers. Their relatives also speak of murder, but do not want to see the details of an autopsy published. The family is demanding that the government does not use the forensic information for propaganda purposes.
On Wednesday, when the Bibas family was buried in Israel, Shalicar doubled down on X, calling the journalists ‘ugly people’, ‘disgusting anti-Semitic swamp’ and demanding: ‘Flush them to the margins of society.’ Shalicar sees no offence in this. When asked why he does not present his criticism soberly, he says: ‘I am a free person who fortunately lives in a democratic state (Israel) and is not silenced, as is unfortunately increasingly the case in Germany, where I was born. There is no moderation requirement in Israel, as there is in Germany under the Civil Service Act for federal civil servants, which also requires them to exercise restraint on official matters in their private lives.
Shalicar also counts the freelance author Kristin Helberg, who initiated a series of events on the Gaza war and anti-Semitism in Berlin under the motto ‘Time to talk’, in which different, even opposing perspectives have their say, as one of the ‘Jew haters’. Shalicar’s list likewise includes Jakob Reimann, who writes for ‘Junge Welt’, Fabian Goldmann, who used to work for ‘nd’, and Hanno Hauenstein, who uncovered how the Springer Group profits from the sale of houses in illegally built settlements in the West Bank.
In addition to this highly regarded research for ‘The Intercept’ magazine, Hauenstein also occasionally publishes in ‘nd’. A year ago, he had an interview with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese. A non-person for Shalicar: last summer, after Albanese reacted favourably to a user’s post showing a photo of Adolf Hitler and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the German IDF spokesperson called for her dismissal ‘with a hefty a** kicking’.
Shalicar’s attacks are causing concern among the people affected. Martin Gak said on X that he perceived the list ‘as a threat to my physical integrity’. Jakob Reimann characterises this as a ‘public list of enemies of unpopular critics’ in response to an ‘nd’ enquiry. Hanno Hauenstein also speaks of ‘enemy labelling’.
The two major German media unions do not wish to express an opinion on the case. The German Journalists’ Union (DJU) has withdrawn from X and has therefore not taken any notice of Shalicar’s post, a representative of the federal executive board said. ‘We will not respond to the posting in X either,’ it said succinctly. The German Journalists’ Association (DJV) gave a similarly terse response: ’Unfortunately, we have no information of our own on this. We are therefore unable to comment on the matter at present,’ a spokesperson replied.
‘Putting journalists on a list of the ‘top 10 propagators of hatred against Jews’ and pillorying them in this way is a blatant overstepping of boundaries,’ states a representative of the German section of Reporters Without Borders. ‘Journalistic work can and should be criticised, but not using such inflammatory methods,’ emphasises the non-governmental organisation.
‘Who are we supposed to rely on in the face of such open defamation as Shalicar’s?’ asks Hanno Hauenstein about the lack of response from the DJU and DJV trade unions. Shalicar’s list is ‘just one case of many’, states Fabian Goldmann. Every day, journalists who want to report ‘accurately’ on events in the Middle East are subjected to hostility and campaigns in Germany.
Shalicar repeatedly accuses critical German reporting on the Gaza war of anti-Semitism. ‘They used to say ‘it’s the Jews’ fault! Now they say ‘Israel is to blame’,’ he posted in agreement with a contribution by Ahmad Mansour, known as a critic of Islam, on the Hamas-Israel ceasefire negotiations on X.
Author Hauenstein sees the equation of criticism of Israel and anti-Semitism as a ‘deliberate dilution and instrumentalisation of the term for political denunciation’. In view of the rapidly growing anti-Semitism in Germany and worldwide, he considers this to be ‘highly dangerous’. ‘If criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza is considered anti-Semitic, it can give the false impression that anti-Semitism is not so bad after all.’
Published in German in „nd“.
Image: IDF.
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