Israeli Media Revises Report That Led Cruz to Challenge US-New Zealand Alliance

February 3, 2025 TruthUSA

Following Sen. Ted Cruz’s repost of the article criticizing New Zealand, Winston Peters labeled it as ‘fake news,’ resulting in Haaretz retracting its statement.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz has had to revise a story it published, which previously compelled Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to question whether the United States should view New Zealand as an ally. This correction came only after an objection from Winston Peters, New Zealand’s Foreign Minister.

The controversy started when the paper asserted that under the “new visa requirements” New Zealand announced last week, Israelis must now disclose their service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

However, this assertion has been deemed inaccurate by Immigration New Zealand.

On January 2, the department issued a statement clarifying that no new policies had been introduced for either Israeli or Palestinian nationals, and that New Zealand does not require Israelis to obtain a visitor visa for stays shorter than three months; only a New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority declaration is necessary.

In response, Haaretz modified the headline and lead paragraph to make it clear that the New Zealand government had disputed the initial reports.

“The New Zealand government denies assertions that all Israelis must provide details of their IDF service to apply for visas, claiming there are ‘no new policies for processing visitor visa applications from Israeli or Palestinian nationals,’” the revised article now states.

Before the revision, however, the story caught the attention of Cruz, who tweeted that “It’s challenging to regard New Zealand as a standard ally within the American alliance framework, when they criticize and penalize Israeli citizens for their self-defense against Iranian-controlled terrorists,” and added, “New Zealand ought to be collaborating with Israel in its endeavors rather than engaging in self-indulgent left-wing attacks.”

Emphatic Assurances

Cruz’s tweet was directly responded to by David Seymour, one of the leaders of New Zealand’s three coalition parties, who informed the Senator, “That does not represent the stance of the New Zealand Government.

“Israeli citizens are warmly welcomed here and may enter New Zealand without a visa under our Visa Waiver program. We have robustly denounced those who seek to demean or penalize Israeli citizens, as that is unjustified. Surely, you have individuals in your country with whom you disagree as well.”

New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters also publicly addressed Cruz, calling the Haaretz article “fake news” and assuring him that the government was “insisting on a correction.”

“Israelis do not require visitor visas to travel to New Zealand, much less disclose their military service,” Peters asserted.

“Additionally, both New Zealand’s chief human rights commissioner and I—as the foreign minister—have explicitly declared that the so-called ‘genocide hotline’ [set up by pro-Palestinian activists] is a perilous and anti-Semitic fabrication.

New Zealanders are known for their hospitality, and Israelis are always welcome to visit New Zealand.”

Despite these high-level assurances, interventions from the New Zealand embassy in Washington D.C., and the fact that Cruz’s post links to the now-removed article from the newspaper—even after five community notices highlighting that the original story has been corrected—Cruz’s stance remains unchanged on X at the time of this writing.

This incident marks the second occasion this week where an Israeli publication made similar claims, following a similar report by The Times of Israel, which has subsequently published another article detailing the New Zealand government’s denial of these accusations.

A representative for Immigration New Zealand has clarified that while additional information might sometimes be required from applicants to assess their eligibility for entry into New Zealand, this may include military details.

However, “it is inaccurate to assert that every Israeli wishing to visit New Zealand must provide information regarding their military service.”

“It is worth noting that since October 7, 2023, we have approved 809 out of 944 applications submitted by Israeli nationals for both temporary and permanent residence visas,” the spokesperson stated.

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