M A Hossain<\/p>\n
While millions of Jewish individuals and people with conscience are demanding stern measures against mega-terror outfit Hamas for gruesome sexual crimes on Israeli females, girls and even minors, Israeli media outlet YNet has joined a well-orchestrated propaganda run by Hamas and other anti-Semite elements in defaming Cochav Elkayam-Levy, lawyer and founder of \u2018Civil Commission on October 7th Crimes by Hamas against Women and Children\u2019 by accusing her of scamming donors and spreading misinformation. YNet came up with the allegations within days of Cochav Elkayam-Levy receiving prestigious Israel Prize. While accepting the prize, ELkayam-Levy said, \u201cWe must stand firm against the stark denial and the increasing tide of antisemitism\u201d.
\nCochav Elkayam Levy has been a go-to source for Western and international media outlets pushing the narrative that Palestinian militants carried out sexual assault on a massive and systematic basis when they attacked Israel.
\nMeanwhile, Max Blumenthal, editor of The Grayzone News wrote on his \u2018X\u2019 account that has over 624,000 followers: \u201cThe chair of Israel\u2019s investigative committee into rape on 10\/7 by Hamas, @CochavElkayam, presents an old image of dead female Kurdish fighters as women sexually assaulted at the Nova music fest During a 11\/12 talk for Harvard\u2019s Maimonides Society, Elkayam referred to \u201can image of a woman stripped from the waist down… photographed on the side of the Nova music festival\u201d This image was originally published on the anonymous Hamas-Massacre website promoted by Israel\u2019s govt, but removed w\/o acknowledgment after I demonstrated it was first published in 2022 and showed dead female Kurdish fighters\u201d.
\nAccording to Grayzone, Elkayam-Levy has starred in a factually challenged CNN special on the topic narrated by the fervently pro-Israel host Jake Tapper, who identified her as \u201can expert in human rights law who organized a civil committee to document evidence\u201d.
\nIsraeli newspaper Haaretz featured Elkayam-Levy as the subject of a puff piece which claimed that her work \u201cpresents a horrifying picture that leaves no room for doubt: On October 7, Hamas terrorists systematically carried out acts of rape and sexual abuse\u201d.
\nOn December 6, 2023, members of the White House National Security Council and Assistant to the President and Director of the Gender Policy Council Jennifer Klein hosted Elkayam-Levy in Washington to hear \u201cabout her work to gather testimony and document evidence of the events of October 7 and develop a comprehensive accounting of gender-based violence committed by Hamas\u201d.
\nBut on March 24, 2024, leading Israeli publication YNet published a troubling expos\u00e9 accusing Elkayam-Levy of ripping off major donors, including a member of the Biden administration, spreading fake Hamas atrocity tales, and failing to deliver on her promise of a major report about sexual violence on October 7.
\nAn Israeli government official told YNet, \u201cPeople have disassociated themselves from her [Elkayam-Levy] because her research is inaccurate.
\n\u201cAfter all, the whole story is that they want to accuse us of spreading fake news, and her methodology was neither good nor accurate\u201d.
\nIsraeli government officials were particularly incensed that Elkayam-Levy spread discredited claims that a Hamas militant cut a fetus from a pregnant woman before raping the woman \u2013 a lie first spread by confirmed fraudster Yossi Landau of the scandal-stained ZAKA organization. \u201cThe story about the pregnant woman who had her stomach cut open \u2013 a story that was proven to be untrue, and she spread it in the international press\u201d, Israeli official complained to YNet. \u201cIt\u2019s no joke. Little by little, professionals began to distance themselves from her because she is unreliable\u201d.
\nThe story of Hamas militants enjoying a pleasant morning meal after chopping an entire family to pieces was not Yossi Landau\u2019s only contributions to media buzz. He had also confirmed the fact of Hamas beheading babies in Kibbutz Kfar Aza \u2013 a contrivance which US President Joe Biden promoted. The US president also said, he has seen beheaded Israeli children. As CBS News reported on October 11, 2023, Yossi Landau said he \u201csaw with his own eyes children and babies who had been beheaded\u201d.
\nSubsequently, Sara Sidner of CNN and White House retracted their claims about beheaded babies.
\nSara Sidner in a tweet wrote, \u201cYesterday the Israeli Prime Minister\u2019s office said that it had confirmed Hamas beheaded babies & children while we were live on the air. The Israeli government now says today it CANNOT confirm babies were beheaded. I needed to be more careful with my words and I am sorry\u201d. White House in its statement said, \u201cThe president based his comments about the alleged atrocities on the claims from Netanyahu\u2019s spokesman and media reports from Israel\u201d.
\nGiving details about Elkayam-Levy, Israeli media outlet YNet said, she further alienated the Israeli government by spinning her \u201cCivil Commission\u201d out of a one-woman operation she ran called the Deborah Institute, creating the sense that she was representing Tel Aviv in an official capacity.
\n\u201cIn the beginning she was really very active, which was very nice. Then it started calling itself a civilian commission. People got confused, members of Congress turned to people who work with Israel and asked what it is \u2013 \u2018Israel built a commission?\u2019 It\u2019s a confusing name. And to the question of whether there is such a thing at all? Is there such a body? The answer is \u2013 no. It is the body. She is the civil commission\u201d. Through her Deborah Institute, Elkayam-Levy has raised millions of dollars. But if the government sources who spoke to YNet are to be believed, she conned wealthy American Jewish donors like Rahm Emanuel, currently the Biden administration\u2019s ambassador to Japan, and channeled the money into her personal bank account.
\nAccording to YNet, Elkayam-Levy appealed for US$8 million to launch her \u201cCivil Commission\u201d, requesting US$1.5 million for \u201cmanagement and administration\u201d. \u201cRahm Emanuel, the US ambassador to Japan, donated money to her, she took donations from a lot of people, and started asking for money for lectures\u201d, the Israeli official complained.
\nAfter more than five months of research, however, the publicity-hungry lawyer has produced nothing of substance to justify her massive fundraising haul. Indeed, the \u201catrocity report\u201d Elkayam-Levy had promised supporters, which would have provided clear evidence of systematic sexual violence by Hamas on October 7, has yet to arrive.
\nMeanwhile, Elkayam-Levy reportedly attempted to obstruct a visit to Israel by United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten, whose report was ultimately touted by Israel as \u201cproof\u201d of sex crimes by Hamas despite Patten\u2019s own admission that it contained no evidence and lacked any investigative mandate from the UN.
\nElkayam-Levy\u2019s fall from grace comes as The New York Times published a report casting further doubt on the paper\u2019s already-discredited December 28, 2023 article alleging \u201csystematic sexual violence\u201d by Hamas on October 7.
\nAccording to the March 25 report published in The New York Times, an Israeli paramedic identifying himself as \u201cG\u201d (real name: Guy Melamed) lied to the paper when he claimed to have found the corpses of teenage girls in Kibbutz Beeri in a state of undress that clearly indicated rape. \u201cFootage taken by an Israeli soldier who was in Beeri on Oct. 7… shows the bodies of three female victims fully clothed and with no apparent signs of sexual violence\u201d, The New York Times stated.
\nThe writer is political and defense analyst based in Bangladesh. He can be reached at: writetomahossain@gmail.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
M A Hossain While millions of Jewish individuals and people with conscience are demanding stern measures against mega-terror outfit Hamas for gruesome sexual crimes on Israeli females, girls and even minors, Israeli media outlet YNet has joined a well-orchestrated propaganda run by Hamas and other anti-Semite elements in defaming Cochav Elkayam-Levy, lawyer and founder of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[13085],"class_list":["post-407434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-article","tag-m-a-hossain"],"yoast_head":"\n