ABC: Hamas rockets a ‘show of resilience’

Jewish leaders have slammed the ABC for an ‘activist’ Instagram post, which called the terror group’s rocket launch towards Tel Aviv a ‘show of resilience’.

The ABC Headquarters at Ultimo in Sydney. Picture: David Swift

Jewish leaders have slammed the ABC for an “activist-like” Instagram post, which called the terror group’s rocket launch towards Tel Aviv a “show of resilience”.

It has led to formal complaints made to the broadcaster by leading Jewish organisations, who have said it appeared the news organisation was placing “activism over journalism”.

It comes after Hamas on Sunday launched rockets towards Tel Aviv for the first time in months, with warning signs heard in the Israeli city as the Israel Defence Forces confirmed eight projectiles launched from Rafah had been identified and a number intercepted.

The “resilience” turn of phrase was included in a Monday morning Instagram post from the ABC News account, promoting a story about Israeli air strikes killing 35 people in Rafah.

“The Israeli air strike was reported hours after Hamas fired a barrage of rockets from Gaza that set off air raid sirens as far away as Tel Aviv,” the post read.

“... In a show of resilience more than seven months into Israel’s massive air, sea and ground offensive.”

The Instagram post calling Hamas' strike a "show of resilience".

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry formally lodged a complaint on Monday morning to the broadcaster about the post, which remained online at the time of publication, with its co-CEO taking to social media querying the terminology.

“Hamas rockets fired from densely populated civilian areas at Israeli civilian centres are a double war crime,” Alex Ryvchin wrote on X.

“They endanger Palestinians by turning the launch site into a lawful military target and their aim is to kill as many Israelis as possible. How dare the ABC laud war crimes as ‘resilience’.”

Mr Ryvchin told The Australian that “glamourising war crimes is immoral and dangerous”.

“The post should never have been made and the fact it remains up is unacceptable,” he said, saying that “appropriate steps” needed to be taken to ensure similar didn’t happen again.

The Australian understands that the Zionist Federation of Australia was also set to lodge a complaint, with its president Jeremy Leibler saying that the ABC should “immediately review” its social-media practices.

“The ABC seems to forget that launching rockets at civilians is a war crime, not a show of resilience,” Mr Leibler said.

“For the ABC’s social media team, it seems activism takes precedence over journalism. First the ABC on TikTok encouraged an economic boycott of Israel, and now on Instagram it’s celebrating rockets indiscriminately fired towards civilian populations by a proscribed terrorist group.”

Fighting has centred around Rafah, where Israel has vowed to destroy the last remaining Hamas battalions, although it comes as the UN’s top court ordered its forces to stop its invasion of the city last week.

Israel began its invasion of parts of Rafah earlier this month and at least 800,000 Palestinians have fled from the city since.

The copy itself was taken from a story from a wire service, as opposed to an ABC journalist’s own.

The ABC were contacted about the Instagram post and phrasing used.