Former Israeli army press officer accuses military of distorting facts

A former member of the Israeli army spokesperson's unit accused the military on Monday of manipulating the truth about its operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, Turkey's state-run news agency Anadolu Agency reported.

Ayelet Kroizer made the claims in a post on X announcing her new role as spokesperson for Breaking the Silence, an Israeli organization that publishes former soldiers' testimonies about abuses in the occupied Palestinian territories.

She wrote that she had seen innocent Palestinians labeled as "terrorists" and that army statements were written with a target audience and a set goal in mind.

"I manipulated the details released to the media," she wrote.

Kroizer said the spokesperson's unit controlled how the public understood events and treated the truth like the work of a public relations firm rather than an institution answerable to citizens.

She said the unit's aim when addressing Israelis was to build confidence in the army, and that the public's right to know came a distant second.

For foreign audiences, she said, the goal was to strengthen and widen the legitimacy of military operations.

Kroizer also described being trained to report dozens of deaths from a single strike and then routinely add an expression of regret for uninvolved people.

She said she grew up in the ultra-Orthodox community and gave up her military exemption three years ago to enlist during the war, believing she was defending the country.

Breaking the Silence welcomed her appointment in its own post on X, saying it was time to bring the truth about the occupation to the public.

Kroizer ended her post by urging others who served during the war to speak out instead of staying silent.

Gaza's Health Ministry figures put the death toll from Israel's war in Gaza since October 2023 at more than 74,000 Palestinians, with over 175,000 others wounded.