The coverage of the Palestinian reconciliation in the Israeli and Palestinian media
December 2012
This joint research, conducted by Keshev and Palestinian NGO IPCC, shows that the reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas received narrow, superficial coverage in both the Palestinian and Israeli media.
Media outlets on both sides rushed to justify the official position and did not provide substantial information. Such coverage reinforces despair, indifference and fear with both peoples, and perverts the discourse between them as well within each society.
>> Download the full report
>> About the Israeli-Palestinian media monitoring project
Since the passing away of Arafat the cleavage between the Palestinian factions and political parties has widend, due to ideological differences which entailed a political segregation. These differences brought about a physical dissociation between the West Bank and Gaza. On February 6, 2012 a reconciliation agreement was signed between the parties in Doha, Qatar.
The reconciliation has implications for both societies. For the Palestinians, the separation was perceived as an obstacle to the liberation of Palestine and becoming a full-fledge national entity. For Israelis the internal Palestinian conflict cast a shadow on the collaboration between Israel security services and the PA and the future relationship with Palestinians.
Our analysis of the coverage that this topic received in both the Palestinian and Israeli media resulted with the recognition that media outlets on both sides were by far inadequate.


There was no information relating to the history that preceded the agreement and to its contents. Instead media outlets on both sides rushed to justify the official position.
Palestinian media outlets held that there is a need for unity in face of the Israeli occupation but refrained from dealing with the reasons to the controversy between the parties. The Israeli media highlighted the risk that the accord engenders but did not deal with the opportunities that are associated with it.
By doing so the media reinforced the exasperation, indifference and fear with both peoples.