Israel detained a US journalist for 4 days. Why was the world silent?

​​On Tuesday, Israel detained an American journalist for allegedly publishing classified information about the location of Israeli national security facilities. On Friday, it released Jeremy Loffredo – who is Jewish – pending investigation, banning him from leaving Israel until further notice.

On Sunday, the US-based independent media outlet Grayzone published a video on its YouTube channel in which Loffredo visited Israeli military and intelligence bases hit by Iranian missiles. Among them was the Israel Defense Forces’ Nevatim air base, which Loffredo said housed the jet used by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. By this time, several other US media outlets, including National Public Radio (NPR) and the Washington Post, had named Nevatim as one of the targets of the Iranian bombing. Grayzone said it supports Loffredo’s reporting.

Three days after the publication of his video report, Loffredo was among four journalists and a driver detained by Israeli police at a checkpoint in the northern West Bank. The group was accused of crimes including aiding the enemy during the war and providing information to the enemy. In a tweet posted on Thursday, The Grayzone said Loffredo was being held “on suspicion of serious security offenses (sic) for publicly publishing…missile launch sites near or within sensitive security installations, with the aim of bringing this to the attention of the enemy and thus helping them in their future attacks.”

Loffredo’s fellow detainee, Russian journalist and human rights activist Andrey X, claims he was detained for 11 hours without charge, during which time he was “beaten, kidnapped, blindfolded and taken to a military base”. He also claimed his phone was confiscated – a claim echoed by Loffredo’s employers.

The detention constituted the latest episode in Israel’s years-long attack on journalists, which intensified significantly during the genocide in Gaza. According to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), more than 140 journalists and media workers have been killed since 7 October, more than in any other conflict on record. At least 69 more are currently detained in the West Bank, Gaza and Israel: the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) states that “Israeli authorities now hold the global record for detaining the highest number of journalists per capita”.

The international community remained audibly silent during Loffredo’s detention. As of Friday morning, no mainstream media outlets had reported the story.

The US State Department commented to Grayzone during Loffredo’s detention and offered an amended version of its statement to Novara Media following his release: “We have no higher priority than the safety of US citizens abroad. We are aware of reports that a US citizen has been arrested and released in Israel.”

Some have speculated that the US inaction regarding Loffredo’s arrest may reveal its hostility towards The Grayzone, which describes itself as anti-imperialist and many of its reports focus on US influence abroad. In June, the platform was discovered to be among a number of organizations listed on a US state-backed “enemies of Ukraine” list.

This silence surrounding Loffredo contrasts markedly with the campaign to free Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who in March last year was detained by the Russian government while reporting in the country. After being sentenced to 16 years in prison, Gershkovich was abruptly released in August following a sustained campaign by his employer as well as US media outlets. By then, the Free Evan Gerskovich campaign had attracted the support of US President Joe Biden, his Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Tim Dawson, deputy general secretary of the IFJ, wrote in a statement to Novara Media: “The arrest of journalists without good reason always undermines their ability to report and therefore threatens media freedom.

“We await more detailed information on this case, but we have already expressed the deepest concerns about the way the IDF treats journalists.”

Rebecca Vincent, campaigns director at human rights organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), said: “RSF is aware of reports of a series of arrests of journalists by Israeli forces yesterday, who we understand have been released without charge.

“We remain deeply concerned by the continued detentions of dozens of journalists who remain in custody in the West Bank, along with other measures taken by Israeli forces to restrict reporting on the war in Gaza over the past year.

“We again call for such practices to cease immediately. Journalists must be able to do their jobs reporting from the West Bank, Gaza and surrounding areas.”

Grayzone did not respond to Novara Media’s request for comment.

Rivkah Brown is a commissioning editor and reporter for Novara Media.