2020 ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT www.HonestReporting.com We believe deserves fair treatment in the news. We know public opinion is shaped by the media. We empower people to respond to anti-Israel bias. Help us ensure fair media coverage of Israel. Receive our free daily newsletter and educational materials: honestreporting.com/signup

HonestReporting US Board of Directors President: Robert A. Blum Members David A. Barish, Ph.D. • Martha Barvin • Daniela Bendor • Max Blankfeld • Marc Levine Morris F. Mintz • Sharon Mishkin • Jodi Samuels • Aaron Spool • Arthur Weinstein Executive Staff Daniel Pomerantz, Chief Executive Officer International Staff Charles Bybelezer, Managing Editor • Jerry Glazer, Director of Finance and Administration Suzanne Lieberman, Director of Missions & Donor Relations • Laura Cornfield, Director of MediaCentral HonestReporting Defending Israel From

2020 ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT www.HonestReporting.com

This annual report is also available online as a downloadable PDF with additional content hyperlinks at www.honestreporting.com/2019-annual-report/ HonestReporting IN ACTION

We deliver real solutions to We mobilize at a real problems moment’s notice

Media bias is a global problem that affects Israel and The longer biased news is out there, the more people will Jewish communities around the world. With our be misinformed. That’s why we have a rapid response monitoring capabilities, critiques and social media mechanism. Corrections begin to appear quickly so that presence, we put news outlets on notice and hold them the public is told the truth. to account.

We have leverage Our team of professionals

The most valuable assets for news agencies are their makes every dollar count reputation and credibility. They know who we are, they We monitor events, how they are covered, reach out know about our reach and our impact. Journalists have to our expansive network, provide support and get the to do their jobs right or risk being exposed. results to keep people well-informed.

Our track record is We don’t just critique media, unparalleled we educate the public

For two decades we’ve been inducing corrections, Our staff members have intimate knowledge of the expanding our community partnerships and prompting issues and are able to effectively disseminate accurate media to report with fairness and accuracy. and relevant information. Our educational materials are an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to advocate on behalf of Israel.

We're on the ground, in the heart of Jerusalem

2 HonestReporting Annual Report 2020 • www.honestreporting.com Message from the CEO

In the year of COVID-19, the need for honest reporting about Israel did not slow down, and neither did we. Thank you for helping to make our success possible.

MediaCentral increased its number of press events, resulting articles or television segments, and amount of journalists served, by 85% to 185% in each category, including worldwide praise for Israel’s COVID response and vaccine efforts, much of it coming right out of our conferences.

Our editorial team’s critiques and social media savvy prompted corrections by Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, The Telegraph, and others. We helped induce YouTube to remove Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan’s horribly antisemitic July 4th address, and working with other organizations we convinced Facebook to (finally!) recognize that Holocaust denial is a form of hate speech, and ban it from its platform.

Meanwhile, our YouTube campaign, which directly reaches young adults, showed enormous growth with 97 original videos generating nearly 13 million views.

Finally, with our in-person trips to Israel frozen due to coronavirus-related restrictions, we launched virtual missions, webinars, and educational Zoom calls, in which 800 of you participated throughout the year. Ironically, the global lockdown became an opportunity for all of us to connect more closely and more often than ever before, and I’m so glad we did.

This year showed me that we have an exceptionally talented and motivated team, as well as enormously energetic and supportive friends, like you. This is why I’m so excited about what comes next.

For 2021, we have specific plans to professionalize all of our activities to the highest possible level, enhance our global credibility and create a greater, measurable impact for Israel than ever before.

To this end, we have generated clear internal plans, benchmarks and deliverables, and if you ever want to talk about the specifics or about how you can help please feel free to reach out any time.

Best wishes from Israel.

I hope 2021 brings you safety, health and peace.

Sincerely,

Daniel Pomerantz

CEO HonestReporting Annual Report 2020 • www.honestreporting.com 3 STATS

Social Media 6 million Facebook REACHED 5 million Twitter IMPRESSIONS 1,200 TWEETS 12.9 million Videos VIEWS 97 VIDEOS

4 HonestReporting Annual Report 2020 • www.honestreporting.com HonestReporting Marks 20 Years Since the ‘Photo that Started it All’

HonestReporting marked 20 years of monitoring anti-Israel media bias, a remarkable journey launched by the “Photo that Started it All.”

On September 30, 2000, Associated Press, and other major media outlets published a photo of a bloodied youth standing near an Israeli border policeman.

The caption identified the victim as a Palestinian, although the truth quickly surfaced: The person in question was actually Tuvia Grossman, a Jewish student from Chicago. The Israeli security officer was trying to protect him after he and two friends were pulled from their taxi by a mob in an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem and severely beaten.

The public outcry over the picture became a symbol of the struggle to ensure that Israel receives the fair news coverage that every nation deserves.

Two decades later, this remains HonestReporting’s core mission.

HonestReporting Annual Report 2020 • www.honestreporting.com 5 Israel's Historic Normalization Agreements

The Abraham Accords marked the first time in more than 40 years that any Arab state agreed to normalize relations with Israel. And the initial ceremony at the White House was just the first stop aboard an intended Middle East peace train.

HonestReporting was there all along the way:

September 15, 2020: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signs normalization agreements at the White House alongside former US president Donald Trump, members of whose administration mediated the historic diplomatic breakthroughs.

October 12, 2020: Israel’s cabinet votes unanimously to adopt the peace agreement forged with the United Arab Emirates; this, ahead of a full parliamentary debate that culminates with the deal’s formal ratification.

October 19, 2020: Bahrain becomes the second Arab country to officially normalize diplomatic ties with Israel. At a ceremony in Manama, officials sign eight bilateral agreements, including a “Joint Communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic, peaceful, and friendly relations.”

October 22, 2020: An overwhelming majority of both chambers of Congress introduce new resolutions in support of the Abraham Accords.

December 23, 2020: The heads of a joint Israeli-American delegation hold high-level talks with Moroccan officials, including King Mohammed VI. Following the meeting, a declaration obligates the resumption of “full official contacts between Israeli and Moroccan counterparts” by the end of January 2021.

January 7, 2021: After committing to do so months previously, Sudan officially joins the Abraham Accords, paving the way for Khartoum’s normalization of ties with Israel. The North African nation became the third of four countries to agree to establish relations with the Jewish state, following the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and preceding Morocco.

6 HonestReporting Annual Report 2020 • www.honestreporting.com HonestReporting Debunks Palestinian Coronavirus Vaccine Lie

When Israel launched a major initiative to inoculate the country’s population against the coronavirus in December, media outlets such as Reuters, Associated Press, The Washington Post and ABC News, among others, began to plaster headlines across their sites that incorrectly implied that Media: Israel Leaves Palestinians Jerusalem was responsible for the Palestinians’ purported lack of access to vaccines. Waiting For Vaccines; Truth: Palestinians Never Asked Israel What many major news organizations failed to report was that the Palestinian Authority had not even contacted Israel about for Help the issue of purchasing the vaccine. Indeed, overlooked in the By Charles Bybelezer •  December 21, 2020 coverage was that Ramallah had for the better part of 2020 cut off ties with Jerusalem over the latter’s now-shelved plan to apply sovereignty to parts of the West Bank in accordance with A senior official with the Palestinian Authority former US president Donald Trump’s peace plan. Ministry of Health [told The Jerusalem Post] “ that the Palestinians do not expect Israel to sell The PA’s decision was made at the height of the pandemic when them, or purchase on their behalf, the vaccine Palestinians were, so the media narrative suggests, desperate from any country... for help. Another PA Ministry of Health official said that Ramallah not only refused to accept huge sums of money in he expected vaccinations in the West Bank monthly taxes and tariffs Israel collects and remits on its behalf, and Gaza Strip to begin next month. He, too, clarified that the PA has not asked Israel to it went so far as to decline the transfer of COVID-19-related supply the Palestinians with the vaccine. humanitarian aid from the United Arab Emirates because the supplies had arrived from the Gulf state on a plane that landed ‘We are working on our own to obtain the at Ben Gurion Airport. vaccine from a number of sources,” the official added. “We are not a department in the Israeli HonestReporting played an instrumental role in combating the Defense Ministry. We have our own government false, if not malicious, media narrative, producing numerous and Ministry of Health, and they are making articles on the issue. huge efforts to get the vaccine.’” Photo by Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images HonestReporting Annual Report 2020 • www.honestreporting.com 7 PETITIONS

Following HonestReporting Petition, US Gov’t Reveals True Number of Palestinian Refugees

HonestReporting, in conjunction with UNRWA: Stop Teaching Hate, launched a “We the People” White House petition with the goal of inducing the Trump Administration to reveal the true number of Palestinian refugees alive today that were displaced during the 1948 war following Israel’s declaration of independence.

With our help, the truth has been exposed by former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo. The revelation came after a concerted campaign by HonestReporting that garnered widespread media attention.

We also produced a related video that garnered over 1 million views and spurred people to action at the grassroots level.

8 HonestReporting Annual Report 2020 • www.honestreporting.com Facebook Updates Antisemitism Policy After Campaign Including HR

In response to an open letter sent to its board of directors by HonestReporting as part of a coalition of over 100 organizations, Facebook announced that it would be updating its policies to more specifically account for certain kinds of implicit hate speech.

The letter urged the social media giant to adopt a clear policy on antisemitism based on the widely accepted working definition of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

This definition has been adopted by the US State Department andover 40 other countries. As HonestReporting’s letter states: “The full IHRA working definition of antisemitism provides Facebook an effective, neutral, and nuanced tool to protect Jewish users from hate speech and imagery that incites hate and oftentimes leads to violence.”

HonestReporting Annual Report 2020 • www.honestreporting.com 9 SUCCESSES

YouTube Pulls Louis Farrakhan’s Fourth of July Address

YouTube removed Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan’s Fourth of July address from its platform following pressure from HonestReporting. During the nearly three-hour speech, Farrakhan unleashed a litany of antisemitic remarks. Among the attacks, Farrakhan said that Jews are responsible for supplanting Torah with the Talmud: “They made that word in their minds and in their believers’ minds greater than God’s word.”

AP Updates Article to Provide Balance Over Israel ‘Apartheid’ Claim

The Associated Press published an article entitled, Leading human rights group calls Israel an ‘apartheid’ state, based on a widely reported claim in a controversial document compiled by B’tselem.

Immediately, HonestReporting sprang to action, and the wire service responed by adding three paragraphs to its original piece, thereby providing readers with a more balanced picture of the story.

10 HonestReporting Annual Report 2020 • www.honestreporting.com Washington Post Admits Israel Did Not ‘Ban Protests’ A Washington Post piece claimed that Israel had “implemented a ban on protests” when this patently was not the case. It’s easier to understand this ‘faux pas’ when one considers the source — Mairav Zonszein, an uber-critical activist‑journalist with a history of alleging that Israel “silences dissent.”

HonestReporting debunked the claim on Twitter and within hours the article was revised.

CNN Revises Oslo Accords Fact Sheet after HR Pressure

HonestReporting exposed how an article by CNN obscured some basic facts regarding the history of the . According to the September 2000 entry in the news outlet's fact sheet about the peace process, “Riots, attacks and suicide bombings end the peace process.”

HR acted swiftly and asked Twitter users to contact CNN editors and demand that the piece be revised. It was.

Foreign Policy Clarifies Status of Sudanese in Israel

Foreign Policy published a piece about the Sudanese in Israel that gave the inaccurate impression that all members of this cohort are refugees.

With crucial details having been conveyed ambiguously in the article, HonestReporting pushed for a correction to be made.

HonestReporting Annual Report 2020 • www.honestreporting.com 11 HR IN THE MEDIA

HonestReporting CEO Addresses Jerusalem Post Conference

Daniel Pomerantz gave a presentation at what is widely considered one of the most important political and diplomatic gatherings of the year. He detailed HR’s work and how it helps people abroad feel safe when expressing their values and opinions.

Here is What America Can Learn from Israel’s Vaccination Triumph

HonestReporting published one of the few articles in mainstream media that describes Israel’s world‑leading COVID-19 vaccination campaign, while at the same time debunking the faulty, if not malicious, narrative that the country is withholding vaccines from Palestinians.

Reuters Blames Israel for Plight of Gaza Christians, Ignores Hamas Persecution

A Reuters piece written by Nidal al-Mughrabi rightly draws attention to the plight of Christians in the Gaza Strip. Yet, the author came down with a case of selective amnesia, neglecting to note the history of persecution of this tiny minority by Gaza’s Hamas rulers.

12 HonestReporting Annual Report 2020 • www.honestreporting.com HonestReporting CEO Interviewed on Popular Israeli Talk Show

Daniel Pomerantz was invited to discuss the US elections on the popular Israeli talk show “Ofira and Berkovich.” The discussion centered on why the tabulation of votes was taking longer than normal and how the results could impact Israel.

BDS Resolutions on Campuses Represent Dangerous ‘Intersectionality’

With 124 territorial disputes in the world, a raging pandemic, a historically divisive election upcoming in the United States and “ Jews standing at the forefront of movements for racial justice, the obsessive practice of singling out the world’s only Jewish state for condemnation is an act of unmitigated prejudice. ”

HonestReporting on ILTV HonestReporting on i24NEWS

Middle East Developments as President Fate of Iran Nuclear Deal Under Incoming US Biden Takes Office Administration

HonestReporting Annual Report 2020 • www.honestreporting.com 13 NEW STAFF

Charles Bybelezer, Managing Editor Charles made aliyah in 2012 and worked as a Breaking News Editor at The Jerusalem Post before joining i24news. He then moved to The Media Line, an American news agency, and currently is Managing Editor at HonestReporting. His extensive knowledge of Israel, coupled with his keen understanding of the way news is generated, provides the editorial team with out-of-the-box perspectives and ideas in order to enhance the manner in which media bias is identified and countered.

Gidon Ben-Zvi, Editor A former Jerusalem Correspondent for The Algemeiner, Gidon is an accomplished writer who left Hollywood for Jerusalem in 2009. His work has appeared in The Jerusalem Post, The Times of Israel, American Thinker, The Jewish Journal, Israel Hayom and United with Israel.

Akiva Van Koningsveld, Editor Originally from The Hague, Akiva Van Koningsveld left The Netherlands for Israel in the fall of 2020. Before joining the HonestReporting team, he worked as a policy officer at the Center for Information and Documentation Israel, aDutch organization dedicated to combating antisemitism and spreading awareness of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

David Mencer, Senior International Connector With 20 years experience, David Mencer is a leading fundraising and communications professional. Originally from London, David led the Labour Friends of Israel, bringing 70 British Members of Parliament to Israel. He has written speeches for Prime Ministers Boris Johnson, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Prior to joining HonestReporting, David was Chief International Connector at the Israeli Innovation Center at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation.

Dassi Berkowitz, Graphic Designer An innovative graphic and web designer, Dassi creates images, campaigns and print materials for HonestReporting. She also works on branding, web page design and excels in developing an organization’s creative content strategy.

14 HonestReporting Annual Report 2020 • www.honestreporting.com HR LAUNCHES NEW ISRABITES NEWSLETTER

HonestReporting Annual Report 2020 • www.honestreporting.com 15 16 HonestReporting Annual Report 2020 • www.honestreporting.com YOUTUBE PROJECT

Our YouTube project continues to go from strength to strength, reaching out to young people where they are, through a medium they understand.

We produced 97 videos that reached 12.9 million viewers, the latter figure an increase of more than 300% over 2019.

HonestReporting Annual Report 2020 • www.honestreporting.com 17 WEBINARS

Understanding Hamas-ruled Gaza & Israel's Strategic Reality

This three-part webinar series allowed participants to virtually "travel" to the volatile Gaza Strip border, visiting the Israeli communities that live closest to the Hamas-ruled enclave.

The tour was led by IDF Major (res.) Elliot Chodoff, a political and military analyst specializing in the Arab-Israeli conflict and the global war on terror.

Together, we visited locations targeted by rockets and incendiary kites and balloons, learned about the ongoing strategies of Gaza’s rulers, and delved into the historical context in which Hamas evolved from an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood into an Iranian-backed proxy dedicated to Israel’s destruction.

18 HonestReporting Annual Report 2020 • www.honestreporting.com Palestinians Exposed: Hate in the Classroom

An eye-opening webinar in which Itamar Marcus, Founder and Director of Palestinian Media Watch, analyzed "The World of the Palestinian Child," as it relates to sports, culture, music and education — and how it all contributes to anti-Israel hate and terror.

How to Make Your Ppoint and Keep Your Cool!

Has Israel become a dirty word?

Do you feel as if you’re banging your head against the wall?

HonestReporting revealed the secret to getting your point across effectively.

HonestReporting Annual Report 2020 • www.honestreporting.com 19 facebook.com/HonestReporting youtube.com/HonestReportingVideo twitter.com/HonestReporting

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