“Spoiled crybabies:” that’s how Daniel Seaman, director of Israel’s Government Press Office described foreign journalists who couldn’t get into Gaza in a statement issued on Sunday, reports Israel Today. Israel has been accused of effectively banning reporting from Gaza by closing Gaza borders, but the report says that Seaman explained the closure as an effort to safeguard border terminal workers. And rather than going to the effort of entering Gaza through other means (such as via Egypt) Seaman said correspondents responded like “spoiled crybabies.”

He went on to suggest that next time, Israel should impose a reporting ban, since reporters who did get into Gaza “are accepting everything everyone says at face value. Maybe 3% are calling and asking for an Israeli response…They are a fig leaf for Hamas. Their coverage right now is a disgrace to the profession. Instead of reporting, they are settling scores. Reporting without both sides, without a context is an abuse of the profession.”

(Hat tip to Fromthefrontline.co.uk for noting the report.)