Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
News

YouTube Yanks Israeli Army Videos

Tel Aviv — YouTube has removed videos that the Israeli army posted as part of a public relations effort to rally world opinion behind its operation in Gaza.

On December 29, the IDF began posting videos of its aerial strikes. The rationale was that it wanted to support the claim that it is not targeting civilians, but rather Hamas targets — especially rockets destined for Israel. It also posted footage of Israeli officials sending humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.

However, on December 30, YouTube removed the four most-viewed videos, one of which received more than 10,000 hits. The videos all contained footage of bombings.

The removal appears to have been the result of a function of YouTube, which flags videos when a certain threshold of complaints is passed and routes them to an employee who decides whether or not to remove them. Some IDF videos showing footage of bombings were allowed to remain, apparently because they did not pass the threshold of complaints.

YouTube did not respond to a request by the Forward to clarify its procedures. The IDF’s understanding is that it has the right to appeal the decision. However, there are fears that the procedure could be drawn out, and the military created the YouTube account hoping for an instant impact on public opinion.

YouTube’s guidelines are unclear on what constitutes grounds for removal, though there is a rule that states: “Graphic or gratuitous violence is not allowed. If your video shows someone being physically hurt, attacked, or humiliated, don’t post it.”

The IDF was “saddened” by the removal of its footage, a statement posted next to its remaining YouTube videos, read: “As the State of Israel again faces those who would see it destroyed, it is imperative that we in the IDF show the world the inhumanity directed against us and our efforts to stop it.”

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.