Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Israeli TV network criticized for broadcasting from Mecca

“I would like to reiterate that [it] was not intended to offend Muslims or any other person. If anyone takes offense to this video, I deeply apologize,” wrote news editor Gil Tamary.

Channel 13 news editor Gil Tamary takes a selfie in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, July 2022. Credit: Channel 13 news.
Channel 13 news editor Gil Tamary takes a selfie in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, July 2022. Credit: Channel 13 news.

Israeli Channel 13 chief international news editor Gil Tamary is facing criticism for breaking a Saudi ban on non-Muslims visiting Mecca.

The report of his visit aired on Monday. By Tuesday, Tamary had profusely apologized on Twitter for the appearance.

“Disclaimer: I would like to reiterate that this visit to Mecca was not intended to offend Muslims or any other person. If anyone takes offense to this video, I deeply apologize,” he said. “The purpose of this entire endeavor was to showcase the importance of Mecca and the beauty.”

Tamary again apologized in another tweet, stating, “Once again, if anyone was hurt by or offended by this, I apologize wholeheartedly. We had no such intention.”

https://twitter.com/newsisrael13/status/1549059304870842369?s=20&t=3_me_j8HCd5rXn80Nl9EFQ

“Jews make up a small fraction of San Francisco’s population, yet anti-Jewish bias accounted for nearly half of all hate crimes reported so far this year,” Marc Levine, of the ADL, told JNS.
The nations agreed on a coordination mechanism for citizen services following Jerusalem’s prolonged humanitarian assistance deployment to the country.
The meeting “focused on strategies to strengthen Jewish safety and belonging, maintain candid lines of communication and collaborate on issues where we have shared values and goals,” Phylisa Wisdom, executive director of the Mayor’s office to Combat Antisemitism, told JNS.
Jonathan Sarna, of Brandeis University, told JNS that the partnership “vividly displays the benefits of the free marketplace of competing synagogues in the American setting.”