one of the most misleading articles ever

I will now show to you one of the most misleading articles that I have ever seen in my life. Of course, it's from the Israeli press from what is viewed as one of its leading papers and it concerns haredim.

It's above the fold.

I ask, first of all, if the 'spy' were Hiloni, would the title say Young Hiloni man convicted of spying? If he were Dati Leumi would it say young Dati Leumi man convicted of spying And the answer is no! How do I know? Here:

The title does not reference Dati Leumi Yonatan Urich who is a "chief suspect in the 'Qatargate' affair." " He grew up in a religious household and attended the Bar-Ilan religious state school in the city." (Wiki) See him with a Dati Leumi yarmulka?

Here's another one:

Three young men, including IDF soldier, arrested for running sex site blackmail scam

Three young men operated a profile purporting to be a young woman on dating and sex sites, where they would blackmail victims to send them thousands of shekels.

The article fails to tell us that it's a Hiloni IDF soldier. It's only when the bad guy is Haredi do we see the identifying adjective. 

And what did this young Haredi man do?

In one instance, Stern printed and hung up flyers exhibiting a hand covered in blood, with a caption that read, “It will go down in history that children were killed [in Gaza], let us stand on the right side of history.” For this, Stern recruited another man, who carried out this act and documented himself doing it. He then sent the photos to Stern, who passed them on to Anna, for which he then received payment.

 He hung up flyers protesting a military assault! This is called spying. I didn't know that it was even a crime of any kind.

 In another instance, the man that Stern recruited picked up a cell phone from the area of Atlit in the North, at Anna's instruction. Another man Stern recruited handed over cash in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. 

 

I'm not sure what crime was committed there either. He recruited a man to pick up a cell phone. Yeah, and, what's the problem?  Is there something sinister about the cell phone? The article doesn't say.

Those are the two acts that are characterized as spying: hanging up a flier and recruiting a man to pick up a cell phone.

Payment for this was allegedly via an Iranian agent, although the young haredi man who hung up a flier and arranged for pickup of a cell phone, you know the spy, claims he didn't know he was being paid by Iran for these 'crimes.'  The article quotes a prosecutor who references the "severity of the acts, which increasingly took on a character of nationalism and security."

How much was he paid? We are not told. One assumes that payment for 'spying' would be big figures. I imagine that for hanging up a flier it might be $50.  But the Post leaves it to our imagination so you can just pretend it was for millions!

Wow a flier that talks of children dying, such a security risk. And a phone. It must be now the only phone in the state of Israel. So dangerous.

I would imagine that a tiny percentage of people will click on the link that informs them of the haredi spy to find out that this "spy"  hung up a flier.

It should be no surprise that another article in the JPost tells us that 

Tensions with ultra-Orthodox are second most divisive conflict in Israeli society, poll finds

The poll also shows how 83% of Israeli Jews support ensuring freedom of religion, namely, the freedom for both secular and religious citizens to live according to their own worldview. 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2025

ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF 

And of course, that article is accompanied by a photo of haredim protesting outside a draft office. And the article tells us that 

When asked which religion‑and‑state issues matter most to them and which they want their preferred party to advance in the next election, the top priority is drafting yeshiva students into the IDF or national service (44%), followed by freedom of religion and equality in bearing the civic burden more generally (33%).

In other words, Hilonim accuse Haredim of "not sharing the burden' and intruding into their lives by imposing religious restrictions of marriage and Shabbos travel. Hilonim want to see freedom of religion but fail to recognize that military conscription hinders haredi religious freedom. It's all one-sided hostility. 

It's incredible that the second most pressing issue for Israelis is the Haredim. I presume the first is the Arabs. You'd think housing, economy, or healthcare would be number 1 on the list. No, it's who they see as the enemy that occupies their minds. 

What else does the Post have to say about haredim today?

Haredi faction protests military draft, block Highway 4 in Bnei Brak area

The protests, led by hardline political organization Peleg Yerushalmi, were declared illegal by the police, who said they would begin dispersing the crowd shortly.SEPTEMBER 11, 2025ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF

First haredi draft-dodger arrested on his way to Uman

Last week, Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara instructed that the draft obligation be enforced on young men seeking to travel to Uman, and that they be arrested if necessary.

SEPTEMBER 10, 2025ByAVI SOLOMON

'Hardline' haredim are blocking traffic and getting arrested for being "draft-dodgers." It's all negative.  It's demonizing. They might as well accompany the articles with those sketches of Shylock or Fagan or the anti-Semitic art from Nazi Germany.

What do we learn from this? If you identify as yeshivish or chassidish do not move to Israel unless you want to feel like a black in the Jim Crow South. Even if you are yeshivah light, you should think twice. For that matter, if you are uncomfortable with sinas chinom, lashon hara, deceit, and corrupt journalism you should not move to Israel because that's what you will find here every day of the week.