Why has Israel detained American journalist Jeremy Loffredo?
American Jeremy Loffredo was one of five journalists reportedly detained by the Israel Defense Forces on 9 October. He’s reportedly charged with endangering national security and aiding and sharing information with the enemy, apparently because of his reporting on Iranian strikes.
The case requires the immediate attention of American officials (Loffredo has reportedly been released from custody but is barred from leaving Israel as authorities try to build their case). But, no matter what direction it takes, it should serve to highlight the plight of dozens of Palestinian journalists who are being held incommunicado in Israeli prisons.
Loffredo’s American citizenship makes it more likely – but by no means guaranteed – that the Biden administration might actually care that he’s being detained. Afterall, Joe Biden was eager to claim credit for the release of journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, who were held in Russian prison on bogus charges.
The administration has often claimed that it doesn’t micromanage Israel’s affairs. Israel, it reminds us, is a sovereign country albeit one whose wars we bankroll. That excuse is not available when the journalist is American (although that hasn’t helped much in the case of Shireen Abu Akleh).
It complicates matters that Loffredo reports for the Grayzone, an outlet that has been accused of carrying Russian and Chinese propaganda. The administration is embroiled in a separate (and constitutionally dubious)........
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