Inside Israel's civilian revolution: The rise of citizen-run news channels

As Israel’s seven-front war rages on and the information online grows exponentially, increasing numbers of Israelis have decided to establish their own semi-news agencies.

By OHAD MERLIN NOVEMBER 29, 2024 14:43

MICHAEL’S MIDDLE East Buka account on X. (photo credit: screenshot)

That Israelis are addicted to news is not new. However, since the beginning of the war and even prior to that, another phenomenon began to emerge: Israelis not only consuming news but also operating their own platforms to publish news regarding the Middle East and educate the masses, creating a form of “civilian intelligence” array which meets at the convergence of intelligence gathering, investigative journalism, and online activism.

One name that might come to mind is Abu Ali Express, a former IDF adviser who now runs a translation, analysis, and newsroom operation boasting hundreds of thousands of followers (if not millions). 

However, many other, smaller channels also exist. From geolocation to statistical analysis to news from the streets of Iran, The Jerusalem Post contacted three of them to hear more about what drove them to set up their channels and become a news apparatus of their own.

Ben Tzion Macales: Giving geographic context to events

Ben Tzion Macales, from central Israel, runs a channel under his name on geo-current affairs, analyzing and reflecting on news and events from a geographic perspective, as well as other topics and analyses about the Middle Eastern neighborhood. 

His in-depth analysis of events through online geographic tools and the visual infographics he makes have made their way not only to Israeli channels but also to viral Palestinian influencers on social media – and even Palestinian politicians such as Palestinian Legislative Council member Mustafa Barghouti, who shared a map made by Macales, leaving the latter’s watermark on.

Macales posting about changes in Al-Khiyam village as seen from satellite photos (credit: SCREENSHOT/X)

“The goal behind the channel is to bring a sense of order to everything related to this war and to its ripple effects across the Middle East,” the 30-year-old Macales told the Post. “There is such a mess of reports from so many sources competing for the same target audience – and I wanted to bring my own edge to it.”

Macales explained that he was interested in satellite imagery from a young age, developing maps for fun. Later on, after his military service, he decided to turn his hobby into a profession, completing two degrees that included a track in geoinformatics. 

“This gave me the tools to start performing analyses for my personal use,” he said. “Later, I decided to share those analyses with the audience on social networks. After thinking for a bit how I could accomplish the widest possible reach for my updates, I decided in February of this year to open a Telegram channel where every user can receive notifications about it.”

Macales said that he identified a great thirst to understand what is happening during the war that is not quenched through established media. “So I found this niche that begged to be filled, and I began to publish updates from a geographic perspective on a daily basis.”

A main focus of his work is known as geolocation. “This means matching objects from photographs taken in the field and finding their coordinates on a map. This operation is performed by locating elements that can be identified in a bird’s eye view photograph,” he elaborated. 

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“Once the location is found, the information is uploaded to a database of documents that have received coordinates for preservation.”

Macales explained that this action of pinpointing an event on a map can in certain cases help to better understand the story behind a photograph. 

“Examples include finding out that a weapons depot was found just a few meters from residential areas in Lebanon, or that the hostage rescue operation happened deep inside the Nuseirat refugee camp,” he said, stressing the importance of geographic insight to existing footage.

SOME OF Macales’s most interesting findings are a product of collaboration with others who have the same interest in his field. 

“In May, we found the location where an advanced Iranian air defense system was deployed, which was destroyed by the IDF – all without any announcement from an official source,” he recounted enthusiastically.

“I also first revealed the intention to open the Kissufim crossing before the information was widespread in the media; the creation of a buffer zone along the Israel-Lebanon border that included disposing of the vegetation that Hezbollah used to camouflage its infrastructure; and research that I published as an article about Egyptian activity against the tunnels across the fence between the Gaza Strip and Egypt between 2013 and the eve of the war, which stirred some action on social media.”

In this context, Macales also stressed that his publications are within the framework of the IDF’s military censorship. “I would never reveal the activity or location of IDF forces, thereby endangering them. 

Another thing is that I don’t geolocate places that were damaged as a result of rocket or missile fire, so as not to give the enemy an assessment of the damage caused by their fire,” he pointed out.

The geolocator continued: “I receive positive feedback. It makes me happy to read in the comments that my followers enjoy the content I post – especially those who praise the fact that I provide accurate information without bias, but present only the facts on the ground.”

Following his work, Macales was contacted by investigators, and was invited to speak on several television channels and to write for several newspapers. “From time to time, I find quotes from my analyses or maps I made circulating around the world. It is exciting and a little stressful to see how things I decided to analyze in a single moment can then spread throughout the world for a long time.”

When asked about how he sees his channel develop in the coming years, Macales said that he intends to open a channel in English that would operate in parallel to his Hebrew one, adding that he also plans to expand the use of online video sessions.

 “This way, I can reach out to viewers and explain more about how geography is very relevant to their own lives, whether in everyday life or during war. This is a goal that I believe is achievable.”

Middle East Buka: Refuting Hamas’s propaganda warfare

The owner of Middle East Buka, an X channel that provides in-depth information and analysis regarding the war, including statistical and data-based insights, chose to remain anonymous and asked to be referred to as Michael. 

He describes his channel as revolving around collecting and analyzing information from the public domain, focusing on the Middle East and the current war.

“The range of possibilities in open source intelligence is quite wide,” Michael explained. 

“On my channel, I focus on identifying geographical locations of events, investigating events using documentation distributed online, cross-referencing information from different sources, and conducting in-depth investigations into important issues – such as statistics of casualties on both sides, and verifying claims coming from different sides, both Israeli and Palestinian.”

Michael described the current war as a series of small events that interconnect and form a long sequence, adding that without providing context and stressing the facts, it is very easy to get lost. 

“The channel tries to provide information in an objective manner, free from personal or political opinions, and allows everyone to decide for themselves how to use it,” he said. 

“Some use the content as informational material on social networks, and others for the purpose of expanding general knowledge.”

According to Michael, his channel began as an effort to understand what was happening in Gaza during the IDF’s ground maneuver, initially focusing on analyzing various events to provide a clear picture of the situation on the ground. 

“For example, one of the key tools was the geographic mapping of events – which allows for a better understanding of the sequence of events and helps in the precise identification of locations in the documentation published by the IDF and the Palestinian side.”

Like Macales, Michael holds that, from an informational perspective and in an attempt to reach the truth, “it is of great importance to identify the exact location of an event on the map. The ability to locate, prove, and identify the location of a particular documentation allows a video, which can be claimed to be fake, to be turned into an established fact.”

ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT project Michael conducted was scrutinizing and refuting false claims by Palestinian outlets and Qatari Al-Jazeera about a mass grave that the IDF supposedly created at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis. 

“Immediately after the claims were published, within a few days I was able to prove that not only did the IDF not create these graves, but that they were dug by the Palestinians themselves several months before the publication, while the Khan Yunis area was in an active maneuver phase. This investigation received wide exposure and was cited by many sources and online users,” he added humbly.

The current war zone in Gaza is dotted with numerous incidents of bombings, often accompanied by reports from Palestinian outlets of a certain number of casualties. 

“Usually in cases of incidents with a large number of casualties, there are claims of a large number of women and children among the dead,” Michael said. 

“While most media outlets in Israel and around the world cite the sources of information in Gaza without checking, I investigate major events to check the number of deaths, their breakdown by age and gender, and the victims’ affiliation, if any, with armed organizations,” he said. 

“This method sometimes allows us to refute false claims about the number of deaths and the demographics of those claimed as dead, and to show a more accurate picture of reality,” he explained.

In this context, Michael published a report on the list of names of those killed that the Gaza Health Ministry publishes every two months, which made it possible to identify phenomena that raise questions about Palestinian claims of indiscriminate killings or other accusations.

Michael not only deals with Palestinian casualties. A few weeks ago, he published a report focusing on IDF casualties during the ground maneuver, including geographical locations, circumstances of death, and other general details which became data available to anyone to help them draw their own conclusions.

He also used his skills to identify locations and events from the Oct. 7 massacre. “As many of us have experienced, there are hundreds of [visual] documentations from that day that were shot in Israel and inside the Gaza Strip. 

Many of them were identified in the first months of the war, but to this day there are dozens of videos that have not been fully deciphered,” he said. 

“Over the course of several months, I managed to identify the locations of disturbing footage from the Gaza Strip, which depicted the kidnapping of soldiers and civilians, both living and dead. When these documents are identified with the name of the abductee, and the names of neighborhoods, cities, and streets, they become undeniable facts,” he asserted.

A SOFTWARE engineer in his mid-30s also from central Israel, Michael described himself as being interested in collecting and analyzing open source information. 

“I started out of curiosity and a sense of dissatisfaction with the information that is made available to the public through traditional media. 

“The news often just quotes other news sources without going into depth, and very little in-depth analysis or serious investigations are presented. Most reports in Israel are based on quotes from IDF officials, supplemented by internal sources, but do not provide a deep understanding of what is really happening,” he said, explaining his view.

“There is a lack of independent investigative journalism in Israel, and when it exists it is often combined with political bias. The situation is similar to investigative journalism abroad, which also tends to incorporate agendas of the journalistic bodies themselves,” the analyst said. 

“I wanted to create a channel that brings clean, clear, and data-based information, one that provides real value to readers and allows them to form an independent opinion.”

Michael commented that he mostly receives positive feedback for his work. “The more I base my posts on facts and avoid adding personal opinions, the less likely I am to face insults or arguments. 

It is difficult to argue with facts. Many people are grateful for my work, and some use what I put out there to fight propaganda wars or in debates they are having.

“The web is full of biased and unobjective information,” he concluded, “and I hope that my work adds a balanced and sane perspective to people who are looking to receive reliable and objective information.”

News of Iran: Bringing the streets of Tehran to Israel

Some channels are more than just a one man’s show. Such is the new channel called News of Iran, which is operated by a small array of Persian-speaking volunteers who make news about Iran available to the Hebrew-speaking public.

“We are a diverse group. Some made aliyah from Iran several years ago, and some are Israelis who enroll in Persian or Iranian studies,” one of the owners, T, told the Post. 

“Since Oct. 7, 2023, we have realized that there is a lack of in-depth discussion about Iran among the Israeli public. In Israel, we are so used to fighting with adversaries from Arab countries, which people pretty much got to know. Iran differs in that they are not Arabs. 

They have a different tradition and culture that is thousands of years old, and they are larger than France, Germany, and Spain combined. This is not a terrorist organization that can just be ‘eliminated.’ It is an empire, and it is currently ruled by our greatest enemy,” T stressed.

“Therefore, in Israel, we must begin to understand the cultural, historical, and social weaknesses, and not just deal with the nuclear program or the proxy wars,” T emphasized. 

“If we take the talk about overthrowing the regime seriously, we should start by understanding the social and religious foundations on which the Islamic Republic rests.”

According to T, the goal of News of Iran is to “raise awareness about the psychology behind Israel’s largest adversary, to bring the voices of the oppressed people inside Iran, and to be the first free media channel in Israel that puts Iran at the center, and only then looks toward the rest of the Middle East.”

T also highlighted that, though many look at Iran on a daily basis from a strategic geopolitical perspective, the group felt that discourse regarding the everyday lives of Iranians was lacking, and this is what pushed them further to make it accessible to the Israeli public.

When asked about interesting findings posted on the channel, T brought up a video that they translated, which exposed statements by a senior Revolutionary Guards officer who openly spoke on live TV about hating Jews without regard to Zionists. 

“Iranians may say that they are ‘anti-Zionists’ and not antisemites, but this is only because they understand Western lingo and see how antisemitism, especially in the context of the Holocaust, is controversial, to say the least, and makes it difficult for them to mobilize support,” he said.

ANOTHER STRIKING finding relates to the energy crisis in Iran. “The regime conducts planned power outages due to the crisis. We brought videos of statements from Iranian citizens who were asking the regime to stop the war against Israel and invest the money inside the country.

We also brought a case in which a local municipality blocked the entrance to the offices of the Iranian Electric Company with a bulldozer so that they could not cut off electricity to the citizens.”

When asked about the feedback they receive, T quoted some messages they received at their Telegram channel: “A unique channel, highly recommended, information that is not found in the existing media at all,” one read. 

“Looks promising. I was really waiting for a channel like this!” added another. “It’s amazing what you are doing. Listen, this is a foreign and unknown enemy. I know nothing about him, and you are simply helping me understand what we are dealing with,” complimented a third.

T believes that the channel will only grow. “There is tremendous thirst among the Israeli public to understand the Iranians, and we have seen the incredible responses since we opened the channel. We have no doubt that in the future, the channel will grow and become a central media tool for understanding Iran and the Middle East,” he predicted.

Why did they choose to remain anonymous? “We prefer that people follow the channel because of the content and value we bring, not because of our names or experience,” T concluded.

Ben Tzion Macales’s outlets can be found on X (@BenTzionMacales) and Telegram (@BenTzionM).

Michael’s X account can be found at @MiddleEastBuka.

News of Iran’s outlets can be found on X (@iran_news9) and Telegram (@hadshotiran)

Ohad Merlin’s outlets can be found on X (@MOhadIsrael) and Telegram (@MerlinMeadken)