Austria’s state broadcasting behemoth ORF has come under criticism for what regulators call its one-sided reporting on the Gaza war.
In a recent ruling, the country’s communications authority KommAustria found the media company had “violated its legal principle of objectivity” in its self-made documentary on the war.
The documentary misconstrued facts and favoured Islamist terror organisation Hamas, said the regulator.
The decision – originally taken in February – was published by KommAustria on its homepage at the end of March.
A spokesperson for the communications regulator told Brussels Signal it had published the decision due to heightened public interest.
Both ORF and the plaintiff, the Jewish Community of Vienna (IKG), have appealed the verdict, meaning it is not yet legally binding.
ORF is Austria’s state-owned broadcasting company – taking in more than €700 million from Austria’s 9 million inhabitants through a mandatory household TV tax.
The IKG filed the complaint against ORF in October 2024 – a month after the state broadcaster aired a documentary entitled “War in Gaza – Hell on Earth”.
The documentary was part of its Weltjournal (Global affairs) documentary series, and promised “an uncompromising perspective of Palestinian journalists and doctors”.
The hour-long film mainly showed bloody children, corpses, and a purported Israeli attack on a refugee column, juxtaposed with soundbites from Israeli politicians calling for Gaza’s destruction.
The IKG called the documentary “the most scandalous propaganda production on Israel and Gaza yet”, and accused ORF of disseminating “long since debunked Hamas propaganda”.
Many ORF viewers also criticised the documentary as one-sided and anti-Israeli.
After almost a year and a half of deliberations the media watchdog has now found that ORF did not report objectively on the war for three reasons.
First, the filmmakers presented the documentary’s protagonist, Gazan ‘journalist’ Hind Khoudary as a neutral narrator, concealing her open support for Hamas and denial of Israel’s right to exist.
Second, the documentary made unsubstantiated claims Israel was behind an attack on a Gazan refugee column – without also presenting evidence suggesting the contrary.
Third, the filmmakers mistranslated statements in Arabic by translating the word ‘Yahud’ (Jew) as ‘Israeli’, potentially misrepresenting the anti-Semitic character of the remarks.
KommAustria ordered ORF to air a statement detailing the factual errors – on both live TV and its on-demand streaming platform.
ORF spokesman Michael Krause told Brussels Signal: “The ORF has lodged an appeal against KommAustria’s decision, and we ask for your understanding that we cannot comment further on an ongoing case.”
Brussels Signal also approached the IKG for comment but had not heard back at the time of writing.
Now Austria’s Federal Administrative Court will have to rule on the appeals.
ORF has long been accused of ideological bias in its reporting on Israel and Palestine. Austrian publicist Thomas Eppinger commented on the decision, saying “Now it’s practically official. But hasn’t the anti-Israeli bias in the Weltjournal reports that ORF broadcasts on the Middle East been obvious for years?”
ORF had previously come under fire repeatedly for reports by its Middle Eastern correspondent Karim El-Gawhary, which critics called biased. In December 2025, ORF finally cut ties with El-Gawhary – opting not to continue his correspondent contract.
Pollster and media pundit Bernhard Heinzlmaier commented on the decision, saying “Karim El-Gawhary has turned the Austrian public broadcaster into a bastion of anti-Zionism and hostility towards Israel in Europe. He has accomplished his mission. Now he is moving on to turn the next Western, enlightened institution on its head. Who actually controls this man? Iran, Qatar, or even the Muslim Brotherhood?”
