Hubbry Logo
Gideon LevyGideon LevyMain
Open search
Gideon Levy
Community hub
Gideon Levy
logo
8 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Gideon Levy
Gideon Levy
Gideon Levy
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia

Gideon Levy (Hebrew: גדעון לוי, pronounced [ɡidˈʔon leˈvi]; born 2 June 1953) is an Israeli journalist and author. Levy writes opinion pieces and a weekly column for the newspaper Haaretz that often focus on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. Levy has won prizes for his articles on human rights in the Israeli-occupied territories. In 2021, he won Israel's top award for journalism, the Sokolov Award.[1]

Key Information

Biography

[edit]

Levy was born in 1953 in Tel Aviv.[1]

Tiger Hill beached at Tel Aviv on 1 September 1939

His father, Heinz (Zvi) Loewy, was born in the town of Saaz in the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia, and earned a law degree from the University of Prague. He fled the Nazis in 1939, together with 800 other refugees, on a journey organized by two Slovak Jews. He spent six weeks as an illegal immigrant on the Panamanian-registered ship Frossoula, which was denied entry into Turkey and Palestine, and was permitted only temporary anchorage at Tripoli. He was then imprisoned in a detention camp at Beirut for six weeks. The group was then allowed to leave aboard another Panamanian-registered ship, Tiger Hill, which reached Palestine on 1 September. Royal Air Force aircraft strafed the ship, killing two refugees, but her crew ran her aground on Frishman Beach in Tel Aviv, where the remaining refugees got ashore.[2][3][4]

Levy's mother, Thea, from Ostrava, Czechoslovakia,[5] was brought to Palestine in 1939 in a rescue operation for children and placed in a kibbutz. His grandparents were murdered in the Holocaust.[1] His father opened a bakery in Herzliya with his sister and worked as a newspaper deliveryman and then an office clerk.

The family at first lived in poverty, but their lives became relatively comfortable when the German Holocaust reparations arrived.[6] Levy attended Tel Aviv's Ironi Alef High School.[1] He and his younger brother Rafi often sang together, notably songs by Haim Hefer.[7] During the Six-Day War in 1967, Arab artillery hit the street adjacent to his home.[8] In 2007, Levy described his political views while a teenager as mainstream: "I was a full member of the nationalistic religious orgy. We all were under the feeling that the whole project [of Israel] is in an existentialistic danger. We all felt that another holocaust is around the corner."[9]

Journalism and media career

[edit]

Levy was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in 1974 and served as a reporter for Army Radio.[1] From 1978 to 1982, he worked as an aide and spokesman for Shimon Peres,[1] then the leader of the Israeli Labor Party. In 1982, he began to write for the Israeli daily Haaretz. In 1983–87, he was a deputy editor.[1][10] Despite his coverage of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, he speaks no Arabic.[10] He has written a column called "Twilight Zone" about the hardships of the Palestinians since 1988. In 2004, Levy published a compilation of articles entitled Twilight Zone – Life and Death under the Israeli Occupation.[11] With Haim Yavin, he co-edited Whispering Embers, a documentary series on Russian Jewry after the fall of communism. He hosted A Personal Meeting with Gideon Levy, a weekly talk show that was broadcast on Israeli Channel 3,[10] and has appeared periodically on other television talk shows.

Levy has said that his views on Israel's policies toward the Palestinians developed only after joining Haaretz. "When I first started covering the West Bank for Haaretz, I was young and brainwashed", he said in a 2009 interview.[12] "I would see settlers cutting down olive trees and soldiers mistreating Palestinian women at the checkpoints, and I would think, 'These are exceptions, not part of government policy.' It took me a long time to see that these were not exceptions – they were the substance of government policy."

In an interview, he said he doubts that any newspaper in Israel other than Haaretz would give him the journalistic freedom to publish the kind of pieces he writes.[10]

On the issue of copyright violations in journalism, Levy voiced support in June 2011 for Johann Hari, then writing for The Independent of London, who was accused of plagiarism, while confirming that Hari had lifted quotes from Levy's newspaper column.[13]

Views

[edit]

Levy defines himself as a "patriotic Israeli".[14] He criticizes what he sees as Israeli society's moral blindness to the effects of its acts of war and occupation. He has referred to the construction of settlements on private Palestinian land as "the most criminal enterprise in [Israel's] history".[15] He opposed the 2006 Lebanon War. In 2007, he said that the plight of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, then under Israeli blockade, made him ashamed to be Israeli.[16] "My modest mission is to prevent a situation in which many Israelis will be able to say 'We didn't know'", he has said.[9]

Levy supports unilateral withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories without concessions. "Israel is not being asked 'to give' anything to the Palestinians; it is only being asked to return – to return their stolen land and restore their trampled self-respect, along with their fundamental human rights and humanity."[17]

Levy used to support a two-state solution, but now feels it has become untenable, and supports a one-state solution.[18][19]

Levy wrote that the 2008–2009 Gaza War was a failed campaign that did not achieve its objectives. "The conclusion is that Israel is a violent and dangerous country, devoid of all restraints and blatantly ignoring the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, while not giving a hoot about international law", he wrote in an editorial.[20]

In 2010, Levy described Hamas as a fundamentalist organization and held it responsible for the Qassam rockets fired at Israeli cities: "Hamas is to be blamed for launching the Qassams. This is unbearable. No sovereign state would have tolerated it. Israel had the right to react. But the first question you have to ask yourselves", he continued, "is why Hamas launched the missiles. Before criticising Hamas I would rather criticise my own government which carries a much bigger responsibility for the occupation and conditions in Gaza [...] And our behaviour was unacceptable."[14]

Levy supports boycotting Israel, saying it is "the Israeli patriot's final refuge".[21][22] He has said that economic boycott is more important, but that he also supports academic and cultural boycott.[23]

During the Gaza war, Levy called for "lifting the criminal siege on the Gaza Strip".[24]

Reception

[edit]

Praise

[edit]

Levy's writing has earned him numerous awards, including the Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award in 1996 from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel,[25] the Anna Lindh Foundation Journalism Award in 2008 for an article he wrote about Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces,[26] and the Peace Through Media Award in 2012.[27] New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has called him "a powerful liberal voice".[28] In his review of Levy's book The Punishment of Gaza, journalist and literary critic Nicholas Lezard called him "an Israeli dedicated to saving his country's honour", but said "there is much of the story he leaves out".[29] Le Monde[30] and Der Spiegel have profiled Levy.[10][31] "He has a global name. He may be [one of] the most famous and the most invited journalists in Israel", wrote Israeli journalist Ben-Dror Yemini.[32]

In 2021, Levy was awarded Israel's top journalism award, the Sokolow Prize. In its citation, the prize committee wrote that Levy "presents original and independent positions that do not surrender to convention or social codes, and in doing so enriches the public discourse fearlessly."[33]

Criticism

[edit]

Levy has been criticised for being anti-Israeli and supporting the Palestinians. "Is it wrong to ask of reporters in a country that is in the midst of a difficult war to show a little more empathy for their people and their country?" asked Amnon Dankner of the Maariv newspaper.[34] Ben-Dror Yemini, the editor of the opinion page of Maariv, called Levy one of the "propagandists for the Hamas".[35] Itamar Marcus, director of Palestinian Media Watch, wrote "[One of] the current Israeli heroes [of the Hamas], from whom the Palestinians garner support for their ways, [is] Gideon Levy".[36] In 2008, Arutz Sheva reported that Levy's article about the Jerusalem bulldozer attack was translated into Arabic for a Hamas website.[37] In 2006, Gideon Ezra, Israel's former deputy Minister of Internal Security, suggested that the General Security Services should monitor Levy as a borderline security risk.[38]

In 2002, Israeli novelist Irit Linur set off a wave of subscription cancellations to Haaretz when she wrote an open letter to the paper cancelling her own subscription.[39] "It is a person's right to be a radical leftist, and publish a newspaper in accordance with his world view... However Haaretz has reached the point where its anti-Zionism has become stupid and evil", she wrote.[39] She also accused Levy of amateurism because he does not speak Arabic.[40][41]

Other public figures also cancelled their subscriptions, including Roni Daniel, the military and security correspondent for Israeli Channel 2.[42] Levy himself joked that there is a thick file of anti-Levy cancellations in the Haaretz newsroom.[31]

In an open letter to Levy in 2009, Israeli author A. B. Yehoshua, formerly a supporter of Levy, described his comparison of Gazan-Israeli death tolls as absurd and questioned his motives.[43]

In 2013, Levy published an article about what he views as a disgraceful attitude towards African asylum seekers in Israel.[44] In considering the reasons for this attitude, he wrote, "This time the issue is not security, Israel's state religion. Nor are still talking about a flood of refugees, because the border with Egypt has been closed. So the only explanation for this disgraceful treatment lies in the national psyche. The migrants' color is the problem. A million immigrants from Russia, a third of them non-Jews, some of whom were also found to have a degree of alcohol and crime in their blood, were not a problem. Tens of thousands of Africans are the ultimate threat."[44] Levy's remarks about Russians produced accusations of racism from Eddie Zhensker, executive director of the Russian advocacy NGO Morashtenu, who accused Levy of "brute and coarse prejudices".[45] Immigrant Absorption Minister Sofa Landver demanded that Levy be placed on trial.[46] Levy later apologised to those who were offended, but claimed that the real problem was that he had called Russian "immigrants" instead of "olim" and compared them to Africans.[46]

During the 2014 Gaza war, the chairman of the Likud Yisrael Beiteinu faction in the Knesset, Yariv Levin, called for Levy to be put on trial for treason.[47]

In February 2016, after Levy criticized the Israel Labor Party,[48] its Secretary General, Yehiel Bar, wrote in Haaretz that Levy is a Trojan horse: "Sad, that Levy who used to be a moral compass, became a broken compass: at all time, with no connection to circumstances or reality, Levy's compass points negative, points despair, points irrelevant". Bar added that Levy regards Palestinians as uneducated children who are exempt from any responsibility for their actions.[49]

Personal life

[edit]

Levy resides in the Ramat Aviv neighborhood of Tel Aviv, on a site that was, before 1948, part of the Palestinian Arab village of Sheikh Munis.[50] He is a divorced father of two.[10] He says his sons do not share his politics and do not read anything he writes.[3] He has received death threats.[51]

Awards

[edit]

Published works

[edit]
  • Twilight Zone – Life and Death under the Israeli Occupation. 1988–2003. Tel Aviv: Babel Press, 2004 ISBN 978-965-512-062-2, OCLC 646289069
  • The Punishment of Gaza, Verso Books, 2010, ISBN 978-1-84467-601-9
  • The Killing of Gaza: Reports on a Catastrophe, Verso Books, 2024, ISBN 978-1-80429-750-6

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Gideon Levy

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Gideon Levy (born 2 June 1953) is an Israeli journalist and author renowned for his critical commentary on Israel's policies toward Palestinians, particularly through his decades-long tenure at the left-leaning newspaper , where he serves as a and editorial board member. Born in to parents who immigrated from and after fleeing Nazi persecution, Levy joined in 1982 and initially worked as its deputy editor for four years before focusing on opinion writing and field reporting from the occupied territories. His signature "Twilight Zone" column, co-authored with photographer Alex Levac since 1988, documents the human costs of the Israeli occupation on Palestinian civilians, often highlighting individual stories of hardship, displacement, and military actions. Levy's work has garnered significant recognition, including Israel's prestigious Sokolov Prize for journalism in 2021 and the City of Athens Democracy Award in 2025 for his coverage of the Gaza conflict, with admirers praising his commitment to exposing underreported realities. However, it has also provoked intense backlash within , where critics, including fellow Haaretz contributors, accuse him of systemic bias by emphasizing Palestinian victimhood while downplaying the context of , , and security threats posed by Palestinian actors, portraying his narratives as one-sided and detrimental to Israeli interests. This polarization underscores Levy's status as a divisive figure, labeled by some as a heroic truth-teller and by others as an enabler of adversarial .

Biography

Early Life and Family Background

Gideon Levy was born in in 1953 to Jewish parents who had fled Nazi persecution in Europe as refugees. His father, Heinz (Zvi) Loewy, originated from Saaz in the region of (now in the ), where he was born around 1913 and later earned a from the German in . Loewy escaped the Nazis in 1939 via an illegal immigrant ship to , enduring detention at sea for several weeks before entry was permitted; he never experienced concentration camps but adapted to manual labor, including bakery work, despite limited Hebrew proficiency. Levy's mother, from , arrived in that same year through a targeted effort for children, after which she was housed in a . The couple's survival amid —while one grandparent perished—shaped a family marked by displacement and assimilation challenges in the nascent State of . Raised in Tel Aviv, Levy experienced a conventional Israeli upbringing, initially embracing the nationalistic sentiments prevalent in his milieu, including service in the Israel Defense Forces. His childhood neighborhood featured a mix of secular and religious influences, such as adjacent ultra-Orthodox families, reflecting the diverse social fabric of mid-20th-century . The family resided in an apartment that later symbolized personal continuity amid broader regional upheavals.

Education and Formative Experiences

Levy grew up in in a household shaped by his parents' experiences as , with his father originating from and his mother from ; this environment emphasized humanistic values atypical of many Israeli families at the time, as his father, a holder of a PhD in from the University of Prague who fled Nazi persecution, remained deeply traumatized and primarily spoke German at home. His entry into journalism occurred during mandatory service in the , where he reported on Israeli politics for Army Radio starting around 1971 as a young soldier, continuing formally after his 1974 draft. This early exposure to political reporting amid military duties provided initial training in journalistic practices and analysis of domestic affairs. Post-discharge, Levy worked from 1978 to 1982 as a spokesman in the press office of the Israeli Foreign Ministry's Department of International Cooperation, an role that acquainted him with diplomatic communications and international viewpoints on . These professional steps, absent formal higher education documentation, laid the groundwork for his subsequent career at , fostering a perspective informed by both internal political dynamics and external scrutiny.

Journalistic Career

Early Roles and Transition to Haaretz

Levy began his journalistic career during his mandatory in the Israel Defense Forces, where he was drafted in 1974 and served as a reporter for Army Radio, covering Israeli . This role provided his initial exposure to reporting, focusing on domestic political developments amid Israel's post-Yom Kippur War context. Following his military service, from 1978 to 1982, Levy worked as an aide and spokesman in the office of , then leader of the , handling international relations and communications. In this position, he engaged with global media and diplomatic efforts, gaining insights into Israeli politics during a period of Labor's influence before the 1977 electoral shift to . This political role marked a temporary pivot from direct journalism but built his network in left-leaning circles. In 1982, Levy transitioned to full-time by joining Haaretz, Israel's left-leaning daily newspaper, initially as a reporter before advancing to deputy editor from 1983 to 1987. This move aligned with 's editorial emphasis on critical coverage of government policies, allowing Levy to apply his prior experiences to investigative work, particularly on occupied territories, amid the evolving Lebanon War and First Intifada prelude. His rapid rise to editorial responsibilities reflected the newspaper's trust in his political acumen and reporting skills.

Key Assignments and Columns

Levy has authored the weekly "Twilight Zone" column in since 1988, focusing on the daily experiences and hardships faced by in the Israeli-occupied and . The series draws from on-the-ground reporting, including interviews with Palestinian families affected by military operations, checkpoints, and settlement expansion, often highlighting individual stories of displacement and restriction. In 2004, Levy compiled selections from this column into a book documenting occupation-related incidents over the preceding years. Beyond "Twilight Zone," Levy contributes regular opinion columns to Haaretz, including pieces under his byline that critique Israeli policies toward , such as military actions in Gaza and settlement policies in the . These columns, published multiple times weekly, address broader geopolitical issues, including Israel's relations with Palestinian leadership and international responses to the conflict. For instance, his reporting has covered events in Gaza since the early 2000s, emphasizing civilian impacts during escalations like the 2008-2009 and 2014 operations. Key assignments include Levy's fieldwork in Palestinian territories, where he has documented conditions for over two decades, often traveling to areas restricted for Israeli journalists. This involves direct observation of checkpoints, home demolitions, and interactions with locals, forming the basis for his Haaretz features on occupation dynamics. His coverage extends to international forums, such as discussions on media freedom and conflict reporting, though primarily rooted in Haaretz's editorial framework.

Recent Developments in Reporting

In the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on , which killed approximately 1,200 people and resulted in over 250 hostages taken, Gideon Levy shifted much of his column space to scrutinizing 's in Gaza, framing it as disproportionate and self-destructive. His pieces consistently highlighted civilian casualties—reporting Gaza health authorities' figures of over 43,000 Palestinian deaths by mid-2025, predominantly women and children—and accused Israeli policy of prioritizing vengeance over restraint. Levy maintained his "Twilight Zone" feature, publishing on-the-ground accounts of alleged Israeli military excesses, such as a October 25, 2025, column detailing the shooting death of a 9-year-old Palestinian boy by an IDF soldier in the , based on eyewitness and video evidence. Levy's 2024 book, The Killing of Gaza: Reports on a Catastrophe, compiled his pre- and post- writings, emphasizing long-term effects and arguing the attacks stemmed from decades of rather than isolated militancy. In 2025 columns, he critiqued domestic apathy toward Gaza's humanitarian toll, including a September 21 piece questioning survival prospects for newborns amid famine risks and infrastructure collapse, citing UN reports of acute malnutrition affecting over 15% of Gaza children under five. He also addressed Israeli media's selective focus on anniversaries while downplaying Gaza coverage, as in an column decrying "ultranationalist mourning" that ignored parallel suffering. These works drew international attention, including interviews where Levy described Israel's operations as eroding its moral standing, though he attributed such views to observable casualty disparities rather than endorsement of actions. By late 2025, Levy's output showed no abatement, with August pieces challenging "selective morality" in protests that overlooked Palestinian detainees and critiquing IDF leadership for deprioritizing child protections. His reporting persisted amid internal debates over wartime coverage, underscoring a commitment to on-site verification despite restricted access to Gaza, often relying on Palestinian testimonies cross-referenced with Israeli military statements. This phase marked an evolution from broader occupation critiques to real-time war analysis, positioning Levy as a dissenting voice in Israeli journalism amid widespread domestic support for the campaign.

Political Views

Stance on Israeli Occupation and Settlements

Gideon Levy has long characterized the Israeli occupation of the and , ongoing since 1967, as a "" and "" that constitutes apartheid and inflicts daily violations of , including illegal settlements, prisoner transfers, abductions, and collective punishments. He argues that the occupation's horrors extend far beyond settlement construction, encompassing systemic oppression that decent Israelis and the must protest to prevent claims of ignorance. In his view, the occupation corrupts Israeli morally and politically, fostering radicalism and without internal impetus for change. Regarding settlements, Levy condemns them as illegal outposts that enable and perpetuate the occupation, with settler violence against occurring on a daily basis and escalating since October 7, 2023, often with as perpetrators face minimal legal repercussions. He has highlighted tactics such as land grabs and economic by settlers to displace Palestinian communities, warning that these actions risk gradual by pushing residents from their homes and lands, thereby undermining any prospect of a Palestinian state. Levy posits that fewer settlers, as in pre-2005 Gaza, might have facilitated disengagement from the , but current expansion entrenches control and invites retaliatory policies, such as the approval of 1,500 new units in 2014 following Palestinian political developments. Levy maintains that ending the occupation requires to "pay the price" through external punishments, as domestic society lacks the will to recognize its cruelty or illegality voluntarily. He advocates dismantling settlements and withdrawing from occupied territories as essential first steps, dismissing internal Israeli initiatives for and emphasizing international intervention over reliance on negotiations like the , which he considers long defunct.

Critiques of Israeli Military Actions

Levy has frequently condemned Israeli military operations as disproportionate and morally indefensible, emphasizing the high civilian toll in Palestinian territories. In his columns, he argues that the (IDF) employ tactics that prioritize military objectives over human life, resulting in widespread destruction and unnecessary deaths. For instance, during the 2014 Gaza conflict, Levy described Israel's actions as revealing an "" of indifference to Palestinian suffering, citing the bombing of civilian areas as evidence of systemic brutality rather than defensive necessity. In coverage of the post-October 7, 2023, Gaza war, Levy escalated his rhetoric, labeling the IDF's campaign as genocide committed explicitly in Israelis' name. He contended that the operation's scale— including the deaths of thousands of children and the deliberate imposition of starvation—exceeded wartime collateral damage and constituted intentional eradication efforts. Levy highlighted specific IDF policies, such as restricting aid convoys and targeting infrastructure, as tools of a "war of hunger" designed to break Gaza's population, drawing parallels to historical sieges while rejecting Israeli justifications of Hamas embedding. He further asserted that future generations in Gaza would remember the conflict not as a war but as a genocidal episode, urging Israelis to confront the moral reckoning it demands. Levy's critiques extend to IDF leadership, whom he accuses of complicity through inaction or direct orchestration rather than mere obedience to orders. In a May 2025 column, he wrote that senior officers possessed the authority and opportunity to halt the "Gaza massacre" but chose escalation, implicating them in the deaths of over 10,000 children by that point in the conflict. He has also challenged military narratives of precision and restraint, pointing to instances like the 2011 shelling of a Gaza beach—where the IDF initially denied involvement before admitting fault—as patterns of deception to shield operations from scrutiny. These arguments frame Israeli military actions not as responses to threats but as perpetuations of occupation-driven aggression, with Levy advocating of to enforce accountability.

Perspectives on Palestinian Society and Leadership

Levy has critiqued the leadership of Palestinian Authority President , particularly for perceived passivity and strategic failures that bolstered during conflicts. In a July 2014 column amid the Gaza war, he argued that Abbas' inaction and diplomatic shortcomings shocked Palestinians in both Gaza and the , contributing to ' relative confidence and public support. He has acknowledged the Palestinian Authority's widespread unpopularity and endemic corruption, attributing its persistence to international reliance on it as a contact point despite these flaws, which he described as a "tragedy" preventing structural change. This view frames the PA as a dysfunctional entity propped up by external powers, including Israel, to maintain the status quo rather than fostering genuine Palestinian self-determination. Regarding Hamas, Levy portrays it as deeply embedded in Gazan society, equating "Gaza is Hamas and Hamas is Gaza," while contextualizing its actions and resilience as products of prolonged blockade and occupation rather than inherent ideological . He has rarely emphasized internal reforms or autonomous for the group's failures, such as resource mismanagement during sieges, instead prioritizing Israeli policies as the causal driver. On Palestinian society, Levy's writings highlight systemic suffering and dehumanization under occupation, often attributing social fragmentation, internal divisions, and —such as clan rivalries or vigilante actions—to the erosive effects of Israeli control rather than endogenous cultural or institutional deficiencies. For instance, he has drawn parallels between Israeli and hypothetical Palestinian equivalents, implying societal condemnation would be harsher for the latter due to power imbalances, while underscoring occupation as the root enabler of unrest. This perspective privileges external oppression over internal agency, with limited commentary on empirical data like high perceptions (87% of viewing the PA as corrupt in 2023 surveys) or intra-Palestinian rates, which exceed those in comparable conflict zones absent occupation framing.

Controversies and Fact-Checking Disputes

Accusations of Anti-Israel Bias

Gideon Levy has faced repeated accusations from pro-Israel groups and commentators of exhibiting an anti-Israel in his , characterized by a disproportionate focus on Israeli actions while downplaying or omitting Palestinian violence and agency. Critics, including the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and (CAMERA), have described him as an "acrimonious, anti-Israel ideologue and activist," pointing to incidents such as his 2015 for spitting and cursing at (IDF) soldiers during a as evidence of personal animus influencing his reporting. These groups argue that Levy's columns in routinely portray as the sole aggressor in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, employing terms like "apartheid" and "" without equivalent scrutiny of Palestinian leadership or . A notable controversy arose in March 2025 when Levy appeared on the of , an American activist labeled by critics as an and supporter for promoting conspiracy theories and anti-Zionist tropes. During , Levy agreed with Hinkle's characterization of Zionists as "genocidal" and responsible for , later expressing regret for the appearance but defending his broader critiques of Israeli policy. highlighted this as emblematic of Levy's willingness to align with extreme anti-Israel voices, further eroding his credibility among those who view his work as lending legitimacy to adversarial narratives. Earlier instances include a column where Levy misrepresented Israeli polling data to claim widespread Jewish support for apartheid policies, a assertion he retracted after scrutiny revealed selective interpretation of the statistics. Detractors, including Israeli public figures and online commentators, have labeled him a "traitor" and " propagandist" for columns that, in their view, caricature and Israelis while humanizing Palestinian perpetrators of , such as in coverage of events post-October 7, 2023. These accusations persist amid broader critiques of for fostering an environment where such perspectives amplify division within Israeli society, though Levy maintains his reporting stems from empirical observation of occupation realities rather than ideological prejudice.

Handling of Palestinian Violence and Terrorism

Gideon Levy has consistently framed Palestinian violence and as largely reactive to Israeli policies, emphasizing occupation and military operations as primary causes while rarely issuing unqualified condemnations of the acts themselves. In a September 1, 2024, column, he described the return of suicide bombings in the as an inevitable response to Israel's "boot mercilessly presses down" on , suggesting external factors like Iranian funding play a secondary role compared to systemic oppression. This perspective aligns with his broader pattern of attributing attacks to provocation, as seen in a commentary where he stated that Israeli shock over Palestinian focuses on "the ugly, inevitable result" rather than underlying policies enabling it. Critics contend that Levy understates the scope and agency of Palestinian terrorism through selective casualty reporting. In an October 10, 2008, column reviewing the Jewish year 5768 (September 13, 2007–September 30, 2008), he claimed 18 Israeli deaths from Palestinian terror, excluding soldiers and victims in the and Gaza, whereas Israeli Foreign Ministry and data record at least 36 fatalities. For 2002, amid the Second Intifada's peak of suicide bombings, Levy reported 184 Israeli deaths versus 421 documented by official sources, omitting details on methods like the March 6, 2008, Mercaz Harav Yeshiva shooting that killed eight students. Levy's coverage of specific attacks, such as barrages on , acknowledges Israeli suffering—naming victims like Al'a Hilo, killed on February 23, 2003—but shifts focus to contemporaneous IDF operations in Gaza that resulted in 15 Palestinian deaths, questioning their necessity without denouncing the rockets as unprovoked terror. This has led to accusations of , where is depicted as a symptom of occupation rather than driven by groups like , whose charter endorses targeting civilians, thereby diluting accountability for violations such as the 2000–2005 suicide bombing wave that killed over 1,000 Israelis. Such handling draws fire from media watchdogs and even colleagues for uncritically adopting narratives that minimize ideological motivations behind persistent attacks, including the , 2023, assault killing 1,200 , which Levy later contextualized amid critiques of Israel's response. Pro-Israel analysts argue this approach, while rooted in Levy's fieldwork in Palestinian areas, risks excusing premeditated violence by prioritizing causal links to Israeli actions over empirical patterns of rejectionism and incitement in Palestinian leadership.

Specific Instances of Alleged Inaccuracies

In a July 18, 2004, column, attributed a quote to stating, “after what the Nazis did to us, we can do whatever we want,” without providing a source; Levy later admitted in an August 12 email to CAMERA that no such source existed, leading to its removal from the Hebrew version but retention in an English reprint. Levy also claimed that Yediot Ahronot ignored the killing of elderly Palestinian Ibrahim Halfalla in Gaza, implying Israeli media indifference, though Yediot published a July 14 criticizing the incident and its moral implications. Additionally, he asserted that Israel's Education Ministry barred from Jewish schools in , but school admissions are managed by municipalities, not the ministry, with most Arab students attending separate Arabic-language public or private schools amid ongoing negotiations for improved facilities. did not issue corrections despite requests. A March 31, 2013, column by Levy misrepresented an report on Operation Cast Lead (December 27, 2008–January 18, 2009), claiming it documented only 92 Palestinian fighters killed; report actually tallied approximately 1,400 total Palestinian fatalities, including about 300 children, over 115 women, 85 men over 50, and 200 men under 50 as unarmed civilians, plus around 240 police, with combatants implicitly estimated at 550 based on subtracting civilians and police from the total. Following CAMERA's intervention citing the document, published corrections clarifying that did not specify 92 fighters. In an August 2008 Haaretz article titled "Last Refuge," Levy described near as the sole remaining place for Palestinian children to swim, deeming it their "last refuge" amid restrictions, and claimed the was inaccessible due to checkpoints; however, multiple public swimming pools and recreational facilities operated across the at the time, including in , , , , , and , as documented by correspondent in 2007 and supported by contemporaneous photographs from AP, , and other agencies showing children using these sites. Pre-existing water parks like Beit Jalla (opened 2000) and Al Badhan (pre-2000) further contradicted the portrayal of as the "first" such facility. Haaretz's October 2012 survey, prominently featured in a Gideon Levy column, asserted that a majority of supported an "apartheid regime," citing figures such as 74% favoring Jews-only roads and interpreting 69% opposition to Palestinian voting rights upon annexation as endorsement of apartheid; analysis revealed distortions, including that only 24% positively supported segregated roads (with 50% rejecting them but lacking alternatives and 17% opposing outright), and the poll conflated policies with conditions inside proper. issued a clarification admitting the headline and article were misleading, while Levy published a follow-up acknowledging the "" but defending the broader interpretation that most Israelis tacitly supported apartheid-like measures if maintaining settlements.

Reception

Awards and International Recognition

Gideon Levy has received multiple awards recognizing his journalism on and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, primarily from organizations focused on , , and press freedom. In September 2025, he was awarded the Athens Democracy Prize by the City of for his decades-long reporting on the Gaza war and commitment to exposing injustices in the occupied territories. In 2021, Levy received the Sokolov Prize, Israel's most prestigious journalism honor, for his contributions to public discourse on ethical issues. Other notable recognitions include the 2015 Prize for the Struggle for , shared with Palestinian Mitri Raheb, for efforts against occupation, , and intolerance. In 2008, he won the Euro-Med Prize for on the Palestinian issue, alongside the Anna Lindh Foundation Award for coverage of the Gaza assault. Earlier awards encompass the Leipzig Freedom Prize in 2001 for advancing freedom of expression and the Emil Grunzweig Award in 1996 from Israel's Association for Civil Rights. These honors, often from European and bodies, highlight international acclaim for his critiques of Israeli policies, though they have drawn criticism from sources alleging alignment with anti-Israel advocacy groups.

Domestic and Scholarly Criticisms

Levy has faced domestic criticism in for alleged one-sidedness in his reporting, with detractors arguing that his columns emphasize Israeli policy failures while minimizing Palestinian responsibility for violence and governance issues. colleagues have accused him of , such as decrying Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers as deplorable in print while maintaining personal associations with figures like Prime Minister , as highlighted in a 2022 analysis labeling him a "hypocritical " driven by provocation and clicks rather than principled consistency. Others within the newspaper have faulted him for factual missteps, including an unsubstantiated endorsement of Netanyahu's leadership shortly before the , 2023, attacks, which Levy later retracted but which exemplified, per critics, a pattern of denial akin to broader Israeli avoidance of apartheid realities. Legal challenges underscore these domestic rebukes. In January 2022, settlers filed a suit against Levy over a column accusing them of inciting violence and using derogatory language implying sub-human status, which a July 2024 ruling deemed a false "" unsupported by evidence, ordering Levy to retract the claims. Such instances have fueled perceptions among Israeli commentators that Levy's advocacy blurs into , eroding his credibility within mainstream discourse. Scholarly critiques of Levy's work are less voluminous but center on his rejection of a Jewish-majority state and advocacy for a binational alternative, which historians like have contested as naive and perilous, predicting it would precipitate demographic shifts leading to Jewish rather than coexistence. , in a 2019 debate, argued Levy underestimates Palestinian rejectionism and over-relies on , ignoring historical patterns of Arab-Israeli failures. Even scholars sympathetic to Palestinian critiques, such as , have dismissed Levy as marginal, asserting that his positions represent no significant Israeli constituency and fail to influence domestic policy. These analyses portray Levy's journalism as ideologically driven scholarship-lite, prioritizing narrative over empirical balance in interpreting occupation dynamics.

Published Works

Books and Monographs

Gideon Levy's books primarily consist of compilations of his columns and reportage, focusing on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and military operations in Gaza. His earliest monograph, Ezor Ha'dimdumim (translated as Twilight Zone: Life and Death under the Israeli Occupation, 1988–2003), was published in Hebrew by Babel Books in 2004 and spans 802 pages, drawing from his weekly "Twilight Zone" series to document civilian experiences in the and during the First and Second Intifadas. In The Punishment of Gaza (Verso Books, 2010), Levy analyzes Israel's 2008–2009 Operation Cast Lead and the preceding blockade, framing these as disproportionate responses that inflicted widespread civilian hardship without addressing underlying security issues, based on his on-site reporting and interviews. Levy's most recent book, The Killing of Gaza: Reports on a Catastrophe (Verso Books, 2024), assembles his post-October 7, 2023, dispatches covering the Hamas attack on Israel and Israel's subsequent military campaign in Gaza, emphasizing the scale of destruction and questioning the proportionality of the response amid reports of over Palestinian deaths by mid-2024.

Selected Columns and Essays

Gideon Levy's columns and essays, published primarily in since joining the newspaper in 1982, center on critiques of Israeli policies in the Palestinian territories, often highlighting individual Palestinian experiences under and blockade. His long-running "Twilight Zone" series, launched in 1988, consists of on-the-ground reports from the and Gaza, portraying the occupation's daily impacts through personal narratives of arrests, home demolitions, and restricted movement. In the March 6, 2008, "Twilight Zone" column "A Great Darkness Has Fallen," Levy details the Israeli military's Operation Warm Winter in Gaza, condemning the operation's restrictions on and electricity while noting that no Israeli journalists accessed Gaza via the during the period, which he argues obscured Palestinian suffering from public view. The piece asserts that such isolation fosters dehumanization, with Levy quoting Palestinian residents on blackouts and fuel shortages amid Israeli border controls enforced since 2007. A June 3, 2017, essay titled "What I've Seen in 30 Years of Reporting on the Israeli Occupation" reflects on Levy's fieldwork, citing encounters with thousands of Palestinians affected by checkpoints, settlements, and incursions; he claims these experiences reveal a systemic "dehumanization" ingrained in Israeli society, supported by his documentation of over 1,000 child detentions and routine settler violence unchecked by authorities. In the October 9, 2023, opinion piece "Israel Can't Imprison Two Million Gazans Without Paying a Cruel Price," written days after the Hamas attacks that killed 1,200 Israelis, Levy contends that 's 16-year blockade of Gaza—restricting goods, movement, and power to 2 million residents—created conditions for breakout violence, rejecting security justifications as insufficient to explain the humanitarian toll, including pre-attack poverty rates exceeding 50% in Gaza per World Bank data.

References

  1. https://www.haaretz.com/ty-WRITER/0000017f-da24-d249-ab7f-fbe4caac0000
  2. https://promisedlandmuseum.org/journalist-gideon-levy/
  3. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/twilight-zone
  4. https://www.athensdemocracyforum.com/speakers-moderators/gideon-levy/
  5. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-09-28/ty-article/.premium/haaretz-columnist-gideon-levy-wins-athens-democracy-prize/00000199-91d0-ddb4-abdd-fbfccd420000
  6. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-05-16/ty-article/.highlight/what-my-colleague-gideon-levy-does-repeatedly-wrong/00000188-2030-d18b-a79d-24f833890000
  7. https://poynter.yale.edu/events/gideon-levy
  8. https://remix.aljazeera.com/aje/PalestineRemix/going-against-the-grain.html
  9. https://electronicintifada.net/content/rare-voice-courage-journalist-gideon-levy-interviewed/8757
  10. https://www.haaretz.com/2013-06-22/ty-article/.premium/gideon-levy-a-stranger-in-his-ancestral-home/0000017f-ed8c-d639-af7f-eddf30a90000
  11. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2013-06-27/ty-article/.premium/gideon-levy-memory-is-not-a-deed/0000017f-e2f2-d7b2-a77f-e3f754050000
  12. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2012-04-19/ty-article/israel-must-remember-the-holocausts-refugees-forever-changed/0000017f-e8ac-da9b-a1ff-ecef286a0000
  13. https://jamiat.org.za/is-gideon-levy-the-most-hated-man-in-israel/
  14. https://x.com/pervaizalam/status/1800904423528439862
  15. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-most-hated-man-in-isr_b_737411
  16. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2019-09-29/ty-article-opinion/.premium/another-israel-the-rosh-hashanah-of-my-childhood/0000017f-e89f-dc7e-adff-f8bf41c20000
  17. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2022-08-19/ty-article-opinion/.premium/this-rubble-was-my-childhood-home/00000182-b1ab-d5c6-a59f-b9abf08c0000
  18. https://thejewishindependent.com.au/gideon-levy-controversial-journalist-israel
  19. https://britainpalestineproject.org/levy-helm/
  20. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2021-11-09/ty-article/haaretz-journalist-gideon-levy-receives-israels-top-journalism-prize/0000017f-f457-d887-a7ff-fcf7fb190000
  21. https://forward.com/community/387736/israels-most-controversial-journalist-isnt-finished-fighting-the-occupation/
  22. https://www.trtworldforum.com/speaker/gideon-levy/
  23. https://inthesetimes.com/article/israels-gadfly
  24. https://therealnews.com/author/gideon-levy
  25. https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/gideon-levy
  26. https://muckrack.com/gideon-levy/articles
  27. http://palestine.mei.columbia.edu/news-1/2016/8/26/the-punishment-of-gaza-with-gideon-levy
  28. https://jacobin.com/author/gideon-levy
  29. https://www.haaretz.com/2010-06-02/ty-article/gideon-levy-can-you-express-yourself-freely-as-a-journalist-in-israel/0000017f-db40-d3ff-a7ff-fbe057330000
  30. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025-03-20/ty-article-opinion/.premium/israels-media-has-audacity-to-conceal-gaza-horrors-but-showing-it-wont-stop-the-war/00000195-b00b-d3d1-a19f-f55f36eb0000
  31. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/twilight-zone/2025-10-25/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/a-palestinian-boy-9-stood-at-a-distance-an-israeli-soldier-knelt-and-shot-him-dead/0000019a-19ba-d77b-a3ff-3ffb86900000
  32. https://publicseminar.org/2024/09/review-the-killing-of-gaza/
  33. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025-09-21/ty-article-opinion/.premium/what-kind-of-life-awaits-the-six-babies-born-in-gaza-this-weekend/00000199-6870-de72-a7fd-68f3e58b0000
  34. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025-10-09/ty-article-opinion/.premium/between-an-overdose-on-mourning-and-an-indifference-to-gazas-catastrophe/00000199-c4b6-d198-abdb-dcf7dc7d0000
  35. https://www.democracynow.org/2024/12/27/levy_zone_of_interest
  36. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025-08-31/ty-article-opinion/.premium/most-of-israels-protest-movement-only-cares-about-the-hostages-and-not-about-palestinians/00000198-fc66-d4e1-a3f8-fc66a1620000
  37. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025-08-17/ty-article-opinion/.premium/children-in-gaza-dont-matter-now/00000198-b3fb-d8fb-a7da-b3ff8ced0000
  38. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025-10-15/ty-article-opinion/.premium/will-israelis-one-day-say-of-their-countrys-gaza-atrocities-i-was-always-against-it/00000199-e7c4-d705-a5bb-ffcc7c810000
  39. https://mondediplo.com/2025/10/03israel
  40. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israeli-journalist-gideon-levy-occupation-wont-end-until-israel-pays-the-price/3066543
  41. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2014-06-08/ty-article/.premium/occupation-more-than-just-settlements/0000017f-db07-dee4-a9ff-ff7752860000
  42. https://www.channel4.com/news/west-bank-settler-attacks-happen-on-daily-basis-israeli-columnist
  43. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-01-27/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/israeli-settlers-have-found-a-new-way-to-abuse-palestinian-shepherds-bankrupting-them/0000018d-4822-dc44-a5bf-c8b681660000
  44. https://frontline.thehindu.com/interviews/gideon-levy-israel-palestine-ceasefire-hamas-trump-gaza-nehtanyahu/article69297417.ece
  45. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2015-02-05/ty-article/.premium/the-ugly-truth-about-israels-actions-in-gaza/0000017f-e64c-da9b-a1ff-ee6f48fa0000
  46. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025-07-30/ty-article-opinion/.premium/its-not-just-war-its-genocide-and-its-being-done-in-our-name/00000198-5c7c-d843-af99-de7d5dfd0000
  47. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025-07-24/ty-article-opinion/.premium/the-disgrace-of-deliberate-starvation-israels-war-of-hunger-in-gaza/00000198-381d-d47b-adbe-fa3dfeb10000
  48. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025-10-05/ty-article-opinion/.premium/do-cry-over-spilt-blood-generations-will-go-by-before-gaza-forgets-the-genocide/00000199-afd4-d5a6-afff-efdff5560000
  49. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025-05-22/ty-article-opinion/.premium/idf-brass-is-not-only-obeying-orders-it-could-have-stopped-the-gaza-massacre/00000196-f420-d06d-a5df-f5f1b63f0000
  50. https://remix.aljazeera.com/aje/PalestineRemix/going-against-the-grain.html?gb=true
  51. https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/isolate-boycott-israel-says-renowned-journalist-gideon-levy-in-wake-of-gaza-action-glbg-2750411-2025-07-03
  52. https://www.haaretz.com/2014-07-20/ty-article/.premium/the-failures-of-abbas-leadership/0000017f-dc53-df9c-a17f-fe5b68320000
  53. https://www.democracynow.org/2023/10/11/gideon_levy_gaza_war_israel_hamas
  54. https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/intifada-writing-was-wall
  55. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2023-12-07/ty-article-opinion/.premium/israel-is-fostering-the-next-generation-of-hatred-against-itself/0000018c-40cb-d2d5-abef-f5ff543b0000
  56. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/how-palestinian-authority-failed-its-people
  57. https://www.camera.org/article/haaretz-s-gideon-levy-spreads-his-anti-israel-poison-abroad/
  58. https://honestreporting.com/how-gideon-levy-became-a-propaganda-tool-for-antisemite-jackson-hinkle/
  59. https://www.jns.org/haaretz-journalist-gideon-levy-regrets-hamas-supporters-podcast/
  60. https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/society/artc-haaretz-journalist-under-fire-for-appearing-on-conspiracy-theorist-podcast
  61. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025-04-17/ty-article-opinion/.premium/belated-anti-war-letters-are-a-cowardly-indictment-of-israels-moral-code/00000196-3fd5-d587-abb7-bfd7b8350000
  62. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2024-09-01/ty-article/.premium/as-israels-boot-mercilessly-presses-down-on-west-banks-neck-of-course-theres-terror/00000191-a9f7-d4e9-a199-adf78f560000
  63. https://www.facebook.com/haaretzcom/posts/just-as-with-palestinian-terrorism-the-israeli-shock-is-always-over-the-ugly-ine/10159500361476341/
  64. https://www.camera.org/article/levy-blinded-in-days-of-awe/
  65. http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Victims+of+Palestinian+Violence+and+Terrorism+sinc.htm
  66. https://www.haaretz.com/2003-02-23/ty-article/its-only-sderot-only-us/0000017f-e3ce-d38f-a57f-e7decae90000
  67. https://www.camera.org/article/ha-aretz-radical-mainstreamed-in-lat/
  68. https://www.camera.org/article/in-today-s-apology-gideon-levy-just-doesn-t-get-it/
  69. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2015-08-21/ty-article/.premium/gideon-levy-the-one-trick-pony-of-israeli-journalism/0000017f-e7a1-df5f-a17f-ffffc2bc0000
  70. https://www.camera.org/article/ha-aretz-s-gideon-levy-exports-misinformation-bad-journalism/
  71. https://www.camera.org/article/camera-prompts-corrections-on-gideon-levy-column/
  72. https://www.camera.org/article/updated-last-refuge-latest-falsehood/
  73. https://www.algemeiner.com/2012/10/30/journalistic-sham-haaretz-acknowledges-false-apartheid-survey/
  74. https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/haaretz-reporter-gideon-levy-wins-olof-palme-human-rights-prize/
  75. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-11-30/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/gideon-levy-if-israeli-soldiers-are-so-deplorable-then-why-are-you-hanging-with-bibi/00000184-c7ef-d136-affd-c7ffc3db0000
  76. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/392671
  77. https://ngo-monitor.org/reports/btselems-false-information-and-flawed-methodology-court-ruling-spotlights-ngo-investigations/
  78. https://mondoweiss.net/2019/01/gideon-benny-morris/
  79. https://www.facebook.com/democracynow/posts/israeli-critics-of-occupation-like-journalist-gideon-levy-represent-nobody-in-is/10156003143778279/
  80. https://www.haaretz.com/life/books/2004-08-13/ty-article/evil-for-its-own-sake/0000017f-defa-d856-a37f-fffa3ba80000
  81. https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2955510.Gideon_Levy
  82. https://www.versobooks.com/products/3297-the-killing-of-gaza
  83. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/768651/the-killing-of-gaza-by-gideon-levy/
  84. https://www.haaretz.com/2008-03-06/ty-article/twilight-zone-a-great-darkness-has-fallen/0000017f-ef3d-d223-a97f-effda2a70000
  85. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2017-06-03/ty-article-magazine/.premium/what-ive-seen-in-30-years-of-covering-the-israeli-occupation/0000017f-f6c5-d460-afff-ffe7fc420000
  86. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2023-10-09/ty-article-opinion/.premium/israel-cant-imprison-2-million-gazans-without-paying-a-cruel-price/0000018b-1476-d465-abbb-14f6262a0000
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.