Dancing with the enemy: Lebanese platform partners with i24NEWS

A Lebanese media platform owned by disgraced banker and businessman Antoun Sehnaoui has announced a media partnership with Israeli broadcaster i24NEWS, amid Israel's ongoing attacks on Lebanon and its occupation of parts of the country's south.

The Washington-based* This Is Beirut *platform and i24NEWS released a video on Sunday announcing the new collaboration, presenting it as an effort to bring together Israeli and Lebanese newsrooms.

In the video, two Israeli presenters appeared alongside a group of Jewish, Muslim and Druze Israelis, as well as Lebanese-Israeli activist Miriam Younes, who has promoted Israeli messaging among Arabic-speaking audiences for years.

The presenters danced with the group before addressing the Lebanese public, inviting people to visit Israel while expressing a desire to visit Beirut.

i24NEWS accompanied the video with a message asking: "What if Israel and Lebanon could tell a different story?"

"In one moment in Jaffa, two newsrooms from different sides of different borders came together and chose to listen to each other," it said, describing the encounter as an opportunity for "people, music, culture, and a conversation about what could be possible".

The broadcaster added that such moments could be the beginning of "a different future".

Neither i24NEWS no*r This Is Beirut *provided details about the nature of the partnership, including whether it would involve jointly produced journalism or the exchange and republication of reports and articles.

The announcement comes as Israeli forces continue to attack southern Lebanon and maintain control over parts of the country's territory, despite a ceasefire agreement and Lebanese demands for an end to Israeli attacks and a withdrawal from occupied areas.

Sehnaoui has publicly expressed support for Zionism on several occasions. In 2025, he funded a New York opera about the life of Theodor Herzl, the founder of the Zionist movement.

He also met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for dinner in Washington in July.

Following that meeting, Lebanese judicial authorities issued a search and investigation notice against Sehnaoui over alleged dealings with Israel, according to the report.

i24NEWS was founded in 2013 by Israeli-French businessman Patrick Drahi and broadcasts in English, Arabic and French from Jaffa.