Sheera Frenkel

@sheeraf.bsky.social

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NYT reporter and co-author of “An Ugly Truth” with Cecilia Kang

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My kid wanted to know what the two grandpa’s were arguing about. Out of the mouth of babes…

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Sheera Frenkel

Great reporting from @sheeraf.bsky.social. These campaigns are common, but details rarely so thoroughly confirmed from start to finish. Noteworthy: still very little proof they're effective, and they thrive especially on Twitter, which cut staff that would remove it. www.nytimes.com/2024/06/05/t...

Israel Secretly Targets U.S. Lawmakers With Influence Campaign on Gaza Warwww.nytimes.com Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs ordered the operation, which used fake social media accounts urging U.S. lawmakers to fund Israel’s military, according to officials and documents about the effor...

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@nytimes.com' @sheeraf.bsky.social: Israeli government directed covert influence campaign targeting members of Congress – particularly Black and Democratic lawmakers – with pro-Israel messaging: www.nytimes.com/2024/06/05/t...

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"Israel Secretly Targets U.S. Lawmakers With Influence Campaign on Gaza War" Incredible reporting by @sheeraf.bsky.social. Gift link!

24 hours after Iran’s launched retaliatory strikes at Israel, and the commercial capitol of Tel Aviv feels like business as usual. Cafes and coffeeshops are full, and businesses have reopened.

I have yet to speak to a single Israeli military official who wants a full-scale war with Iran. Not that you would know that listening to some of the breathless cable coverage happening right now…

There are a lot of unverified reports right now. Both Israel and Iran confirmed that Iran has fired drones/ballistic missiles. We won’t know for hours what is hit. Suggest everyone wait for updates from a news org they trust because this is the type of environment where clout-seekers spread crap.

That feeling when you’ve just boarded the first leg of your flight to Tel Aviv, and you hear Iran has launched drones aimed at Israel.

Will never get old to see my stories in print.

Have heard people at Google are circulating my article, which reveals how Google Photos is used by Israel as part of their facial recognition program. I think this is clear in the article, but Israel is using the public version of Google Photos, not a custom-made program to the best of my knowledge

Israel Deploys Expansive Facial Recognition Program in Gazawww.nytimes.com The experimental effort, which has not been disclosed, is being used to conduct mass surveillance of Palestinians in Gaza, according to military officials and others.

This story took me months to report out. Israel is running a expansive and experimental facial recognition program in Gaza: www.nytimes.com/2024/03/27/t...

After Oct. 7, volunteers with Zaka spends months collecting the bodies of the dead. Some are still searching through ashes for bone fragments. This story is about them, but also about how trauma affects our brains: www.nytimes.com/2024/01/15/w...

They Thought They Knew Death, but That Didn’t Prepare Them for Oct. 7www.nytimes.com Volunteers with ZAKA, an Israeli group that recovers dead bodies, were among the first to reach the victims of the Hamas-led attacks. The trauma of what they witnessed may last a lifetime.

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2+ years ago, we wrote a story about Facebook, in a period of crisis, defending Zuckerberg's image. The piece had a throwaway detail about how he rode an electric hydrofoil and Z went on FB to dispute it was electric. A new unsealed filing shows how FB VP Nick Clegg reacted to that. It's something.

On October 7, a lot of people asked “where was the Israeli military?” We have just published the most comprehensive look to-date on the failings of the Israeli military leading up to (and during) that day: www.nytimes.com/2023/12/30/w...

“Being a leftist is a dirty word in Israel.” That’s what one political pundits and longtime Israeli peace activists told me, and the polls back them up. After Oct. 7, few Israelis continue to advocate for peace with Palestinians. www.nytimes.com/2023/12/19/w...

Israelis Abandon Political Left Over Security Concerns After Oct. 7www.nytimes.com Disenchanted by the prospect for peace after a devastating terrorist attack, Israelis are becoming more conservative in their politics.

It’s a weird thing to come back from reporting in the Middle East and find that the conversation in the US is stuck in a polemic that people living in the midst of violence have managed to avoid.

I couldn’t sleep last night, so instead consumed hours of media in Hebrew and Arabic. Here is what I saw: Israeli TV is immersed in defending the war. Horrific stories of Israeli hostages dominate. At one point, an anchor cried as a mother told the story of how her son died on Oct. 7 (Cont)

My heart is broken over the death of Vivian Silver, Someone who always managed to bridge the empathy gap between Israel and Gaza and see all humans as deserving of life. May her memory be for a blessing. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

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The missile that the IDF, US intel and several others believe caused the hospital blast was not launched from Gaza, but from Israel, our team found. Moreover, it exploded 2 miles away from the hospital and likely didn't cause the blast. Gift 🔗 t.co/VH9vj9tkWL

A Close Look at Some Key Evidence in the Gaza Hospital Blastt.co A widely cited missile video does not shed light on what happened, a Times analysis concludes.

A lot has been discussed/tweeted about the NYT headlines re the hospital explosion in Gaza. Listen to NYT editor Joe Kahn explains to @lulugn.bsky.social why the NYT made the calls it did: www.nytimes.com/2023/10/23/p...

Behind the Editors’ Note on Gaza Hospital Coveragewww.nytimes.com Joe Kahn, the executive editor of The New York Times, speaks to Lulu Garcia-Navarro about The Times’s early coverage of an explosion at a hospital in Gaza City, and where the paper fell short.

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Roshdi Sarraj, the photographer who took this widely shared picture of Israel's destruction of Gaza, was himself later killed by an Israeli airstrike.

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Short (and incomplete) summary of the New Yorker article: Jim Jordan laundered conspiracy theories from the corners of the internet into congressional testimony & Investigations targeting disinformation researchers. In one (my) interview, he threatened our funding. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Jim Jordan’s Conspiratorial Quest for Powerwww.newyorker.com How the Ohio Republican built an insurgent bid for Speaker on the lies of Donald Trump.

I spoke to @lizzieohreally.bsky.social about the war, Hamas, and social media strategy… and also my own experience covering (waves hands) all of this. https://t.co/tTw7rSfScH

The saddest conversations I’ve had this week are with Palestinian and Israelis who see each others pain, and feel helpless to stop the cycle of violence they are in. They sound so defeated.

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New: verified Twitter 'OSINT' accounts are destroying the Israel-Palestine information ecosystem. What used to be a network of reliable experts has been taken over by profit and click driven verified accounts. Everyone loses out. "Unprecedented" levels www.404media.co/twitter-veri...

‘Verified’ OSINT Accounts Are Destroying the Israel-Palestine Information Ecosystemwww.404media.co The problem with profit and engagement driven misinformation from pseudo-OSINT accounts during the Israel-Palestine conflict is "unprecedented." One expert said after Musk's recent changes "all hell b...

A lot of journalists are working overtime to try and determine what caused the explosion at Ahli Hospital in Gaza. Soon, we will have more clarity. I'm worried that it won't matter, and that each side has already chosen their narrative.

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The latest sign that news is dead on Twitter is this account that claims to have eyewitness evidence that the bombing of a Gaza hospital was done by Hamas, not Israel, but which doesn’t belong to a genuine Al Jazeera journalist, per @sheeraf.bsky.social

Hamas is using a new tactic- hijacking the social media accounts of people they’ve kidnapped. We spoke to 13 family and friends of people kidnapped.

Hamas Hijacked Victims’ Social Media Accounts to Spread Terrorwww.nytimes.com The use of hostages’ Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp accounts to livestream attacks and issue death threats is a new tactic, experts said.

Last week I interviewed Keren Schem, whose daughter, Mia, was kidnapped from the Nova music festival. Today, Hamas release a video showing Mia in Gaza. It’s the first time Keren has been able to confirm her daughter is alive since Oct 7.

Hamas Posts Hostage Video of Woman Abducted From Israeli Music Festivalwww.nytimes.com The video, of Mia Shem, 21, was the first Hamas has released of any of its nearly 200 hostages. It showed her being treated for an arm injury and speaking to the camera.

I am getting offline for the next 2 days. Because I can, and because Ive been immersed in Israel/Gaza coverage since Saturday. I’ve been a reporter who covers conflict/violence for almost 20 years, and I hope reporters/academics/etc reading this know it’s ok to step away for your mental health.