NEW DELHI: A recent visit by a group of Indian reporters to Israel, and their meeting with its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has sparked outrage at home, with senior journalists calling out both the reporters and their publications for violating professional standards and ethics.
Photos posted on social media by Netanyahu’s office showed him last week receiving journalists from India, including Sidhant Sibal from WION TV, Manash Pratim Bhuyan from the Press Trust of India, Aditya Raj Kaul, former senior executive editor at TV9 network, Shubhajit Roy from the Indian Express, and Abhishek Kapoor from Republic TV.
The fact that they accepted the Israeli prime minister’s invitation was “deplorable,” one of the most prominent figures in Indian journalism N. Ram, publisher of The Hindu Group, which includes The Hindu, Frontline, and Sportstar, told Arab News.
“They should have boycotted a man like Netanyahu. And, also, to accept this kind of invitation at this juncture shows the complete lack of sensitivity towards what ethical journalism is about,” he said.
“It only speaks poorly of these journalists and the organizations they represent.”
In the face of Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians, imposed starvation, and assassination of more than 200 journalists since October 2023, revealing war crimes is what, according to Ram, could help restore some credibility to the Indian journalists who met Netanyahu.
“Everybody can see what kind of war crimes have been committed,” he said
“If they use the opportunity to expose the atrocities, then that will to some extent redeem their journalism, but I don’t know if they’ve done that.”
For Manoj Sharma, a member of the Press Club of India, seeing his colleagues shake hands with Netanyahu was shocking — not only because Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, but also given the mass killing of fellow journalists by the Israeli regime.
“That is totally unpardonable,” he said. “As journalists we have a moral responsibility toward all our journalist friends across the globe … We should stand in solidarity with them.”
For Ashutosh, senior journalist and founder of the popular Satya Hindi channel on YouTube, the Israel visit cast doubt on the journalists’ independence and credibility.
“Netanyahu government is facing serious charges of genocide in Gaza. How can one claim to be independent if one is availing the facilities of the regime, and when the whole world knows how Netanyahu’s army is indulging in genocide in Gaza,” he said. “It is against humanity, too.”
Arab News reached out for comment to the journalists who participated in the Israel trip, but none were available.
New Delhi has largely remained quiet since Israel launched its deadly assault on Gaza in October 2023.
But India’s civil society, including the younger generation, is increasingly involved in raising awareness of Israeli war crimes, organizing solidarity protests as well as on-the-ground and online campaigns — in contrast to the mainstream media that often reflects the government’s silence.
“Mainstream journalists have gone way beyond ethics and their moral compass is now completely unhinged,” Ghazala Wahab, executive editor of the Force magazine, told Arab News.
“A good journalist should be on the side of justice, whether it’s within the country or outside the country, but our mainstream media doesn’t stand on the side of justice. It always stands on the side of the powerful. I don’t think it is journalism any longer.”
