More than 4,000 foreign journalists have arrived in Israel in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, Israel’s National Public Diplomacy Directorate announced in a recent summary of media activity during the six months since the attack.
“Global media coverage of the events has been unprecedented in its scope,” the directorate and the Government Press Office (GPO) said on Sunday, calling Oct. 7 and the ensuing war “the most covered media event in the history of the state.”
The leading countries dispatching correspondents to cover the war were the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany.
Even Ukraine, dealing with its own war against Russia, sent correspondents to Israel.
The top 10 countries sending journalists were:
United States, 824
United Kingdom, 595
France, 488
Germany, 170
Turkey, 154
Japan, 140
Italy, 131
Spain, 127
Scandinavian countries, 120
India, 94
The National Public Diplomacy Directorate, via the GPO, held almost 60 tours and screenings of the film documenting Hamas’s atrocities. Thousands of foreign journalists viewed screenings.
Data regarding tours and screenings:
Kfar Aza, 12 tours
Sderot, 9 tours
Be’eri, 6 tours
Nir Oz, 6 tours
Shura base, 5 tours
Re’im 4, tours
Netiv Ha’asara, 3 tours
Exhibit: War materiel seized following the massacre, 3 tours
Kisufim, 2 tours
Holit, 1 tour
Oct. 7 atrocities footage, 6 screenings
The GPO provides journalists with a range of services while they are working in Israel, including briefings from media centers in Jerusalem and Sderot; weekly tours of Western Negev kibbutzim; and current updates from agencies involved in public diplomacy efforts.
