Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman has claimed that an alleged mainstream media bias exists against Israel due to the revenue news corporations receive from Muslim advertisements.

During an interview with Hadashot TV news, Lieberman was asked why Israel was losing the battle over media coverage of events in the Gaza Strip. “There is one Jewish state in the world. There are 57 Muslim states, who all have much bigger budgets,” he said.

The minister then claimed that mainstream news organisations receive most of their revenue from adverts originating in Muslim countries, forcing media channels to purport a negative image of Israel.

“Ultimately, the person who pays, gets to choose the music,” he said. “When you go now through all the international channels — from CNN, France 24, BBC — you’ll see that 90 per cent of all advertisements come from the Muslim world.”

Lieberman was unable to identify which adverts he was specifically referring to or any evidence to substantiate the 90 per cent figure quoted.

However, Israel’s contribution to media sites and policy advisory groups is well documented, with the Israeli lobby considered extremely well-funded, particularly in the US.

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Organisations such as American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) directly lobby the US State Congress, with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations facilitating contact between the Jewish community and the executive branch of the US government.

The Israeli government has also been exposed in creating anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) propaganda targeting news agencies and social media. Israel allotted nearly $26 million of the country’s 2016 budget to create “a community of fighters” according to Sima Vaknin-Gil, the director general of Israel’s Ministry for Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy, to tackle pro-Palestinian groups advocating for BDS.

Last year, Haartez revealed that the Israeli government had paid Sidley Austin, a Chicago-based firm, hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past two years to fight those critical of Israel and reportedly hired lawyers to prepare lawsuits against those supporting BDS activities.

The government’s links to media organisations have also come under scrutiny at home; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was embroiled in scandal earlier this year after it emerged he had negotiated a deal for more favourable media coverage with Arnon Mozes, publisher of popular Hebrew-language newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip last week, which resulted in the deaths of at least 65 protesters in non-violent demonstrations on the border, warranted international condemnation, prompting Lieberman’s criticism of media coverage of events. Israel has maintained that the protests were organised by Hamas and that its use of force against the unarmed civilians was justified.

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