We see it happen every day - people make up lies about Israel and they get repeated as truth because, hey, of course Jews would do these awful things they were accused of.
I just saw an Egyptian op-ed that claimed that Netanyahu's speech to Knesset in front of Donald Trump "reflected the deep-rooted extremist Zionist ideology and its adherence to the illusion of 'Greater Israel,' raising flimsy religious slogans based on the so-called 'Abrahamic Promise' ...Netanyahu's speech confirms the renewed rounds of conflict with the Zionist enemy, and that it is a fundamental issue in the conflict, constantly seeking to destabilize the region from a Zionist perspective, under the banner of the 'Abrahamic Promise,' that is, the promise of God to the Prophet Abraham, by which they claim that God granted the Children of Israel vast lands between the Euphrates and Nile rivers, according to the Book of Genesis, Chapter 15, Verses 18-21. "
Only one problem:
Netanyahu didn't say any of this.
The article's description of the speech is fiction. But how many Egyptian fact checkers are there to point this out?
Whether it is Al Jazeera, or social media, or speeches by anti-Israel activists, there is no downside to lying. When the lies are pointed out, they are denied or brushed off as not respecting the larger truth. No one loses credibility from lying about Israel, whether they are journalists or politicians. On the contrary, those who tell the truth about Israel are the ones who are in fear because they will be hounded and harassed.
It is like Israel is a distortion field where lies become received wisdom and facts are treated as conspiracy theories.
This is a screwed-up world.