a:19:{s:8:"theTitle";s:81:"Why mainstream media embraces Jewish Americans who enlist in the IDF as "heroes?"";s:12:"thePermalink";s:113:"https://www.islamicity.org/104699/why-mainstream-media-embraces-jewish-americans-who-enlist-in-the-idf-as-heroes/";s:13:"theAuthorName";s:19:"Mahmoud El-Yousseph";s:12:"theThumbnail";s:71:"https://media.islamicity.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/idf-soldier.jpg";s:6:"isWhat";s:7:"article";s:7:"theIcon";s:0:"";s:8:"theEmbed";s:0:"";s:11:"theCategory";s:44:"cannot-retrieve-category-see-cell-part-1.php";s:6:"theTag";s:35:"western media|/topics/western-media";s:7:"theDate";s:12:"May 15, 2025";s:11:"theDate_ORG";s:12:"May 15, 2025";s:9:"theAuthor";s:43:"Mahmoud El-Yousseph|/by/mahmoud-el-yousseph";s:5:"theID";i:104699;s:14:"theReadingTime";s:6:"3 min.";s:10:"theExcerpt";s:186:"The mainstream media and US public officials embrace US-born Jews who enlist in the IDF as "heroes" and "lone soldiers," . Whereas their Muslim counterparts who plan on and/or joi......";s:12:"theTitle_ORG";s:81:"Why mainstream media embraces Jewish Americans who enlist in the IDF as "heroes?"";s:25:"processRelatedFacetsTitle";s:0:"";s:15:"whereItCameFrom";s:0:"";s:8:"theFacet";s:0:"";}

Why mainstream media embraces Jewish Americans who enlist in the IDF as "heroes?"

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The mainstream media and US public officials embrace US-born Jews who enlist in the IDF as "heroes" and "lone soldiers," .

Whereas their Muslim counterparts who plan on and/or join Hezbollah or Hamas to defend their native countries against the Israeli invading army are labeled as "terrorists" or charged with "providing material support to a designated terrorist organization." A charge that carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

Hundreds of friends, family, and residents gather in downtown Tenafly, New Jersey, to watch the release of POW Edan Alexander on May 12, after he spent 584 days in captivity. Edan pledged to return and live in his native country, the USA. © Spencer Platt/Getty Images

A lone soldier is someone who does not have support in Israel, either because they do not have immediate family in Israel or are estranged from their families because they enlisted in the IDF against their wishes. I should add that Americans who went to Ukraine to fight the Russian invading army are treated the same by the mainstream media (MSM), who usually portray them as heroes. Make this make sense!

The four people mentioned below were all US-born Jewish Americans who chose to enlist in the IDF instead of the US armed forces.

  1. Mike Levin was killed in Lebanon during the 2006 Israeli war in Lebanon.
  2. Max Steinberg was killed in 2014 during the Israeli war in Gaza.
  3. Elan Ganeles was killed in February 2023 near the city of Jericho in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
  4. Edan Alexander, a former Israeli-American POW, was captured on October 7, 2023. He was armed and in uniform.

There are at least 50,000 Jewish Americans like them serving in the IDF. The exact number is highly guarded to avoid giving the impression of disloyalty. Many joined after the 9/11 attacks. Serving in the armed forces of another country is grounds for revocation of U.S. citizenship. It says so on your passport.

"Lone Soldier" is a sugarcoated term for mercenaries. I should add here that the families of those killed soldiers have managed to sue the Palestinian Authority and Iran and were able to collect hefty compensation for the loss of their loved ones from the frozen Iranian assets in US banks.

Spread their shame!

Mahmoud El-Yousseph is a Palestinian freelancer for Islamicity.org and ColumbusFreepress.com. He can be reached at [email protected]


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