OPINION:
The Ten Commandments are an anchor for the values of Judeo-Christian Western civilization. Consisting of just 10 relatively short statements, the Ten Commandments present the fundamental components for a stable and just society. They focus on faith, respect, decent behavior and, very importantly, honesty.
Half of the commandments are affirmative. They call upon us to acknowledge a single incorporeal deity. They direct us to honor that deity and inform us how to do so. They also emphasize the respect that we need to give to our parents, partners with God in the creation process.
Virtually everyone is familiar with some of the five negative commandments, the ones that direct us not to steal and not to kill. Fewer are as aware, however, of the Ninth Commandment, which instructs us to “not bear false witness against our neighbor.”
The traditional interpretation of this commandment suggests that it refers to the role of a person engaged in testifying in a criminal or civil court proceeding. In that context, an individual’s testimony can obviously have the gravest of consequences. By giving testimony before a judge or jury, a person can deprive another of liberty or even life. If an important witness’s testimony is false, then terrible injustice can result.
Therefore, the biblical author appropriately emphasizes the injunction to each of us to refrain from being untruthful witnesses.
But the intent of the Ninth Commandment goes far beyond the testimony of witnesses in a courtroom. In some measure, we all provide testimony in the course of normal interaction. We are frequently called upon to speak about people or events, and when we do so, we can affect many lives. Being truthful as we express ourselves, whether formally or informally, as part of casual conversation is fundamental.
Other people, however, have a particularly high responsibility not to bear false witness — those who have arrogated to themselves the role of being societal witnesses: the members of the press.
Journalists, more than any other group in contemporary society, serve as witnesses to the events going on around us. They, by dint of the choice they have made to report to the rest of us what they see and hear, are among the critical witnesses of the events of our time. Because they have taken up this mantle, the Ninth Commandment has particular application to them and places upon them a high responsibility to speak or write truthfully and to eschew false statements.
Yet we increasingly observe the exact opposite. Members of the Fourth Estate have ever more frequently become the purveyors not of truthful testimony but of partisan opinion, often in the guise of disseminating truthful testimony.
While everyone is free to express their opinion, the journalists who pretend to be objective observers and reporters of events, and therefore effectively witnesses, have the moral obligation, so and succinctly articulated by the Ninth Commandment, not to disseminate false testimony. Distortion of the facts by those who claim to report the news can have as nefarious an impact as the false testimony of a courtroom witness.
Sadly, we have been dramatically observing this process in the past months since Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7.
The most dramatic recent example is the alleged bombing by Israel of the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City in October. Within minutes of the disaster at the hospital, much of the international press, accredited witnesses to current events, asserted without qualification that Israel had perpetrated a vile massacre in violation of international law. A multitude of reporters promptly declared that Israel had intentionally murdered as many as 500 innocent patients in the hospital.
The reports turned out to be false. But they unleashed a flood of anti-Israel demonstrations across the globe. The reports of an alleged Israeli crime caused a dramatic worldwide uptick in antisemitism, jeopardizing the lives of Jews everywhere. Even some members of Congress shamelessly disseminated the story after its falsity had been demonstrated.
In reality, it was a Hamas rocket that had misfired and landed on the hospital, killing many Gaza Strip residents. But the harm to the truth was done. The false testimony began undermining Israel’s efforts to defend itself against Hamas terrorists. Since then, much of the press has continued to shamelessly bear false witness in the Israel-Hamas war, repeating Hamas talking points, which defame Israel and Israelis. The venom spread by this false journalistic testimony is serving to increase anti-Israel and antisemitic incidents.
The Ninth Commandment reminds us that telling the truth is critical, whether in a court of law or in discussing the actions of others in our daily lives. How much more so is this requirement applicable to those who hold themselves out as professional witnesses of current events? The truth is a foundational pillar of any civilized society and must be a solid foundation upon which its press corps functions.
The members of the press, the purveyors of the information that informs our national and international actions, are the ultimate witnesses. As enjoined by the Ninth Commandment, they have a duty not to bear false witness. Sadly, many of these witnesses fail badly at this God-given elementary test of decent behavior.
• Gerard Leval is a partner in the Washington office of a national law firm. His book, “Lobbying for Equality: Jacques Godard and the Struggle for Jewish Civil Rights During the French Revolution,” was published by HUC Press in 2022.
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