The Honest Report

Antisemitism, often called history's oldest hatred, has a habit of reinventing itself in order to stay a powerful force. In contemporary times, antisemitism has often hidden behind a veneer of anti-Zionism, but its core anti-Jewish nature has not changed. Despite antisemitism's changing face, only with continuing ignorance can it be given oxygen, and that's where an innovative and interactive new...

The claim that Israel is an illegal occupier of Palestinian land is arguably the most common allegation made against the Jewish State. This broadside, disseminated by anti-Israel activists, positions Israel as having no legitimate basis in international law. But beyond the rhetoric, does international law back up this statement, or does Israel possess legal rights to the land in question, inc...

In some respects, the Middle East is changing so quickly for the better, it can be difficult to keep track. Israel’s relationships with a growing number of Muslim-majority countries, for example, is a relatively recent trend, but one where more promise exists. But in other ways, things in the Middle East seem to be staying the same, or getting worse. Incitement from the Palestinian Authority (PA)...

On the evening of January 14, tens of thousands of Israelis – by some estimates, more than 80,000, or nearly one percent of Israel’s entire population – gathered in Tel Aviv to protest a move by the new government, criticizing what they called an attack on Israeli democracy. Similar protests were held in Haifa and Jerusalem. While news media outlets reported on the attempts by the new government t...

The ongoing issue of Palestinian incitement against Israel and Jews, in general, has long been an obstacle to peace between Israel and the Palestinians. In territories under the Palestinian Authority (PA), to say nothing of Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip, Israel is frequently and widely demonized and delegitimized as a Jewish state, and general and overt antisemitism is used as a means to attack Isr...

Two months after Israelis voted in their fifth election in three years, Israel has a new government - of sorts. Though Benjamin Netanyahu is back as Israel's prime minister, the composition of the new governing coalition is different than what it's been in the past, and some new members of the government, as a result of their right-leaning politics, have attracted a lot of criticism from the news...

For years, news media outlets have covered the topic of small Jewish outposts built in Judea & Samaria (West Bank), which Israeli law considers illegal. But these outposts, despite the media attention paid to them, pale in number compared to Palestinian outposts, built in part due to funds from the Palestinian Authority. According to Regavim, an Israeli organization which monitors such activit...

There's more attention than ever before being paid to Israel's diplomatic relations with Arab & Muslim-majority countries. Due to the Abraham Accords, Israel's relations with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have attracted headlines, but also other states like Morocco, Sudan, Kosovo, and others. But Azerbaijan, for its part, has not garnered as much media coverage, despite 30 years of ties...

If Israel is the start-up nation of the world, then Tel Aviv is the beating heart of that start-up nation. But what is it about Tel Aviv, the cultural and economic capital of Israel, that makes it such a mecca for investment, innovation, and ingenuity? And what lessons can Tel Aviv teach the rest of Israel about what it means to share positive publicity with the rest of the world? In this week’s p...

Given Qatar’s support for Hamas terrorism against Israel, its creation of Al Jazeera as a propaganda arm, and its brutal treatment of its foreign workers, critics have questioned how the country was able to secure such a high-profile tournament. But after the games conclude, the questions will remain: will being awarded the World Cup enable its extremism, or will it help to moderate the oil-rich k...

In the summer of 2006, Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Shia Islamist terrorist group, engaged in an armed conflict which lasted 34 days and killed more than 100 Israelis. News reports widely called the conflict a stalemate, with no clear winner. Sixteen years later, Hezbollah is just as devoted to Israel's destruction as it ever was, but now its capabilities are far greater than ever befor...

It's hardly news that Israel is in a tough neighbourhood, with Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon on the Jewish State's doorstep, and the Islamic Republic of Iran, a menacing regime looking to develop nuclear weapons, wields significant influence across the region. But the Russian-Ukrainian war raging in Europe is also now impacting Israel directly, specifically the country's ability to operate agains...

When it comes to combatting anti-Israel and anti-Jewish discrimination, using the law has been an increasingly popular tool used by pro-Israel advocates. But behind the headlines, how has pro-Israel lawfare changed in recent years, and how have anti-Israel activists been using the same laws to push anti-Israel disinformation? In this week's podcast, we sit down with Aaron Rosenberg for his in-dept...

In 1897, the First Zionist Congress was held in a seaside resort in the city of Basel, Switzerland. Led by journalist Theodore Herzl, the conference helped kick off the Zionist Organization, and the Zionist movement in general. Now, 125 years later, Herzl's dream has come true. The State of Israel is alive and well, and in fact thriving, though by no means is it without challenges, many of them se...

Recent years have shown the tremendous economic growth that has blossomed as a result of peace deals between Israel and a number of Arab states, including Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). But what about Israel and the Palestinians? Despite the absence of a peace deal, millions of Israelis and Palestinians live in very close proximity to one another, and helping them to work together can...

On Tuesday, November 1, Israelis will be heading to the polls – again. In fact, it will be the fifth election in only three years. How did Israeli politics get to be this state, what does the future hold for Benjamin Netanyahu – called King Bibi for his longevity in Israeli politics – and what are the major issues at play? In this week’s episode of The Honest Report, we sit down with Ruthie Blum....

Hamas, the Gaza-based Islamist terrorist group, has been a longtime recipient of funds from the government of Qatar, the oil-rich gulf kingdom. In fact, Khaled Mashaal, the leader of Hamas, is currently in exile in the kingdom, where he can direct the Islamist group’s actions far away from harm. But the Qatari government’s focus on Israel does not end with funding Hamas; that’s only the tip of the...

In 1995, an organization was born at the Edith Wolfson Medical Centre near Tel Aviv. It aimed to provide top-tier heart surgery to as many needy children from around the world as possible, all at no cost. In the 37 years since, Save a Child’s Heart has operated on thousands of children, saving countless lives in the process. But what makes the organization’s work especially noteworthy is that many...

One of the most widespread anti-Israel claims made is that the Jewish State is nothing more than a Western colonialist implant, forced onto the Palestinians. This allegation is partially based on the misunderstanding that the majority of Israeli Jews are of white European descent. And while many Israelis do have ancestry in Europe, Israel is in reality much more diverse – with the majority of Isra...

Few people know the consequences of antisemitism and anti-Israel hatred more than Judea Pearl. His son Daniel was a journalist for the Wall Street Journal newspaper, working in Pakistan, when he was kidnapped and murdered by Al Qaeda in 2002. In his last moments, Daniel was forced by his captors to say on camera "My father is Jewish, my mother is Jewish, I am Jewish," showing the world the brutal...

Across North American colleges and universities, anti-Israel activists spread disinformation about the Jewish State. Whether by professors in the classroom or via BDS (Boycott Divestment Sanctions) resolutions, or Israel Apartheid Week programs, Israel is a favourite target at institutions of higher learning. But why is Israel uniquely targeted, and what can be done to ensure accuracy and truth be...

Jerusalem is an ancient city, having been founded by King David three thousand years ago as the eternal capital of the Jewish people. Over the successive centuries and millennia, the city was invaded and occupied by a parade of foreign armies, ranging from the Babylonians to the Greeks, Romans to the Crusaders, Saracen Arabs to the Ottomans, and more. Today, contemporary Jerusalem is the capital o...

Despite Israel being stronger and more stable than it has ever been, the Middle East nevertheless presents many threats to the Jewish State. Perhaps the two biggest challenges facing the country today are the Iranian nuclear threat, and the conflict with the Palestinians. World powers appear close to an agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran over a new proposed nuclear deal, which, if media r...

By now, the statistics are widely known. Israel, despite having a population roughly equivalent to Quebec - or about one in 900 of the world - represents a majority of country-specific condemnations in the United Nations. Not Iran, Syria, North Korea, or Saudi Arabia, but tiny Israel seems to always bear the brunt of the world's misplaced ire. How is this possible? Israel is a vibrant democratic s...

There are only a few topics of conversation which can cause as much divisiveness and disagreement as Israel. So how and why did Israel become the “boogeyman of polite conversation” in much of global discourse, particularly given the country's relevance in the world of technology and global economics? Equally importantly, how much of a threat is BDS, the Boycott Divestment Sanctions movement, to Is...