Rolling Stone uses Hezbollah terrorist to accuse my IDF soldier sons of war crimes

Rolling Stone, a magazine once renowned for investigative journalism, is planning to publish a reckless, unsubstantiated attack on two of my heroic sons serving in the Israeli Defense Forces. Doing so is not just journalistic negligence but a grotesque blood libel and a nauseating, stomach-turning display of antisemitism.

Rolling Stone is legitimizing the Hind Rajab Foundation, a minuscule joke of an organization that claims to represent Palestinian interests. The foundation, which has fewer than 1,000 followers on social media, filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court accusing Israeli soldiers of war crimes for — believe it or not — praying in Gaza.

Yes, I know. It sounds like an SNL skit. But this is real. And Rolling Stone’s national political editor, Andrew Perez, insists on plowing ahead with this grotesque blood libel, just to get a headline that says, “Rabbi Shmuley’s IDF Sons Accused of War Crimes.” It makes no difference if Rolling Stone will pay with its very credibility once people read the actual story and start laughing. The idea is to ruin my sons’ lives with a headline that will follow them forever since, studies show, 95% of people never read past the headline.’

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What is Perez’s motive? Why would he insist on a blood libel against two IDF soldiers? Well, in our lengthy phone conversation, it seemed that what bothered him most was how proud I was of my two sons, serving in the first Jewish army in 2,000 years, ensuring that a second holocaust is an impossibility, and how I post photos of them to our millions of global followers. Concerning the photos I post of my sons (I of course never reveal their location, which I don’t usually know anyway), he actually said to me, “Can I ask you, why do you post pictures of your sons in the IDF?” I answered, “Huh, come again? Is that a serious question? Only someone who believes the revolting, disgusting antisemitic lie that the IDF are a gang of Nazis would ask me such a ridiculous question. Why do you think I post them? Because they are saving Jewish and Arab lives. And I couldn’t be prouder of them!”

Based on the preposterous complaint from the Hind Rajab Foundation, Rolling Stone is now presenting the act of prayer, and the fact that a soldier spray-painted the word “synagogue” in Hebrew, as an offense worthy of criminal prosecution by the body established to punish perpetrators of genocide. Perez told me that the spray painting of the words “beit knesset” constituted a war crime — damaging enemy property. I tried hard not to laugh. Not a tank shell. Not an air strike. Not a missile strike. Not poison gas, like Assad in Syria used against Arab children. But spray-painting the word “synagogue.”

I know I sound like Colin Jost and Michael Che on weekend update on Saturday Night Live. But blood libels against the Jewish people are no laughing matter.

It gets better. Rolling Stone is amplifying the unjust criticism of Israeli soldiers made by an NGO with deep ties to Hezbollah. Dyab Abou Jahjah, the head of the Hind Rajab Foundation, is an actual Hezbollah terrorist who publicly praised Hezbollah’s former leader, Hassan Nasrallah. In a 2003 New York Times article, Jahjah claimed he had joined Hezbollah against Israel and declared, “I had some military training, I’m still very proud of that.” In a eulogy for Hassan Nasrallah, Jahjah claimed he met the Hezbollah leader in 2001.

So here is one of America’s most famous names in legacy media using an actual Hezbollah-trained terrorist as a source to defame my two soldier sons for war crimes. That Rolling Stone has chosen to partner with an organization linked to Hezbollah raises serious questions about why Andrew Perez still has a job at the magazine when clearly he has made a mockery of objectivity and any commitment to responsible journalism, let alone ethics and decency. What next? Perez will use David Duke as a source to say that Jews were responsible for the Wall Street crash of 1929?

The basis of the charge against my sons was a photo I posted of Mendy in a building where someone had spray-painted the word “synagogue” on the wall. My other son was not even there.

The “journalist” sent by Rolling Stone’s chief political editor Andrew Perez to cover this story, Gabriel Scivone, is an ignoramus, know-nothing Israel hater who inaccurately referred to the International Criminal Court as the “World Court.” He is a freelancer who has never been published by Rolling Stone before and has scarcely been published by anyone else credible. He parrots the Hezbollah mouthpiece’s contention, but can he cite an article in the Geneva Convention that makes praying in a combat zone a war crime?

When asked about the specifics of his slanderous allegations, Scivone could not even identify the building where the supposed transgression took place — yet Rolling Stone intends to publish this baseless story, which can endanger my two IDF soldier sons’ lives.

Is Rolling Stone so desperate to malign Israel that it’s willing to disregard the safety of innocent American-Israelis? Is Rolling Stone so desperate to defame the children of a man whom Michelle Boorstein, writing in the Washington Post, called “America’s most famous rabbi” in 2012, in order to demonstrate that all Jews — even the clerics — are bloodthirsty psychopaths? The accusations against my sons, soldiers who are serving their country honorably, are defamatory and malicious. To accuse them of war crimes for praying in Gaza, a region where Hamas and other terrorist organizations have committed countless atrocities, is an insult to the memory of the actual victims of crimes against humanity.

This kind of reckless journalism endangers the lives of my sons and other Jewish soldiers by making them targets for fanatical extremists. It is irresponsible and malicious. Publicizing of my sons’ names and likenesses, without any legitimate evidence of wrongdoing, mirrors the kind of incitement that has led to violence against Jews throughout history.

Sadly, this is not the first time a rabid antisemite has targeted my sons. When I debated Mohammad Hijab on Piers Morgan’s show last year — a show that some 10 million people watched — Hijab, a disgusting Islamist who preaches publicly that the Quran allows 5-year-old girls to have sex and also says that AIDS is a punishment from God that makes gay men bleed to death “out of their anus,” said that he wanted to see my sons in body bags, God forbid. The next day, he posted a picture on X of what seemed to be a wrapped-up body next to a shovel with the line: “Make sure that you apply the same discount to the funeral. Body bags for your terrorist IDF son Mindy [sic] promo code Human shield.”

Rolling Stone is lending legitimacy to an antisemitic campaign designed to discredit and demonize Israeli soldiers. The Hind Rajab Foundation, led by a Hezbollah terrorist, has filed complaints not out of any genuine concern for human rights but as part of a broader agenda to delegitimize Israel and demonize its military. And Rolling Stone has chosen to be an enabler for this campaign.

Rolling Stone’s even considering publishing this hit piece speaks volumes about the magazine’s editorial standards — or lack thereof. This is a new low, even for a publication that has long been criticized for prioritizing sensationalism over integrity. By publishing this story, Rolling Stone will disgrace itself and become a willing accomplice in a campaign of misinformation and antisemitism.

I have fought for years against the scourge of global antisemitism, and I will not let this latest attack go unanswered. This is not my first rodeo. I have successfully sued media bigots before, and I intend to hold Rolling Stone accountable for the damage it seeks to inflict on my family. I will explore every legal avenue to block this smear campaign and plan, God willing, a $100 million lawsuit against Rolling Stone should this blood libel appear.

By enabling antisemites, Rolling Stone will become a global laughingstock, a magazine that is willing to pander to the enemies of Israel at the cost of truth and human decency. If Rolling Stone wants to restore its credibility, it must walk back its decision to publish this defamatory piece and apologize for giving a platform to terrorists and their supporters. The world is watching, and history will judge accordingly.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach of Englewood is the author of a newly published guide to fighting back for Israel, “The Israel Warrior.” Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @RabbiShmuley.