Gaza in its entirety was shown on Google Earth for the first time since the war began, and in doing so, debunked the propaganda that Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu has been espousing since the war began.
Below are satellite images of Gaza in 2026—after Google updated its maps— and as you can see, it has mostly been leveled with large portions of the strip reduced to rubble.
Why I say this debunks the propaganda of Netanyahu is because, for years now, we have been hearing him claim that the IDF is “not targeting civilians” but is instead, “carrying out a military campaign against Hamas.”
These pictures are the very definition of civilian targeting. Bombing civilian infrastructure to the point where over 1-2 million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes, reducing their hospitals, schools, and Mosques to rubble.
It’s no mystery why Netanyahu has banned international media from independently entering Gaza Strip. He doesn’t want them to see with their own eyes the damage he’s caused.
Zooming out
I, as a Jewish American, am appalled that my tax dollars are being used to fund this. Think for a second if the roles were reversed. That is, if it were Palestinians bombing Jewish communities, hospitals, schools, and Temples. The intent would be obvious.
I believe what is contributing to much—not all of, but a lot of—the rising anti-semitism is the constant conflation of Judaism with the actions of the Israeli Government, which Benjamin Netanyahu has done repeatedly and deliberately since the start.
Every time Netanyahu accuses anyone who criticizes him or the actions of the IDF as an antisemite, he further associates our religion with his war crimes.
(The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for war crimes.)
For obvious reasons, it is not good for Judaism to be associated with war crimes. It endangers Jewish people, because non-Jewish people begin to associate Jews as being aligned with what the Israeli Government is doing.
The way I see it
The Israeli Government believes it has a license to do whatever it wants in Gaza using October 7th—a horrific terrorist attack—as a justification to displace all Palestinians from the land through military force. And they know they have the financial backing of America to supply them with unlimited amount of weaponry and bombs—as well as providing legal cover and political support—to use them with impunity.
Even if you take Netanyahu’s frame that this is a ‘war on terrorism’ seriously, what he’s doing now will probably spawn more terrorist cells than ever before. An entire generation of Palestinian refugees being forced to grow up with the knowing that the Israeli Government bombed their homes and expelled them from their land? How will that play out in 15 years from now?
On antisemitism
Anti-semitism is, unfortunately, a fact of life. There will always be those who blame Jews for everything. They should be shunned from society, and more always needs to be done to combat antisemitism in all of its forms.
But what the Israeli Government is doing right now is giving people a legitimate reason to hate Israel. And the more Israel carries on with these bombings, the worse off they are making life for us Jews—even the Jews who oppose what Israel is doing—because Netanyhu continues to claim the actions of the IDF are representative of Jewish interests.
In the same way that people across the globe hate Americans because of Donald Trump, they are starting to hate the Jews all over again because of Benjamin Netanyahu, who deceptively states he is doing what he is doing in the name of Judaism.
It is our job to speak out against Netanyahu, even if it forces us to confront an uncomfortable truth about what Israel has become under Netanyahu.
His far-right government has hijacked Judaism in the same way MAGA hijacked patriotism and Christianity. And now, they’re weaponizing our faith and our tragic history, from the Holocaust to October 7th, as a license to carry out atrocities against a civilian population, killing 73,000 Palestinians using our tax dollars.
Real Jewish faith teaches us about tolerance, generosity, community, humor, family, and peace.
The Holocaust taught us the most important two words: never again.
Let us return to associating Judaism with Matzo Ball soup and bagels with lox, not war crimes.
A number of years ago Netanyahu was I think under indictment in Israel and yet became PM. He is a charlatan and liar. The photos you have shared are an atrocity and do not reflect the Jewish people. He needs to be tried for high crimes.
Aptly said, Dash. Netanyahu is spreading antisemitism and damning the very Jews he claims he is protecting. Arrest him and the Bloviator in Cheif