Free Israeli propaganda in the US media

This is a pattern.  Israeli military invites Western journalists for a propaganda tour in which they are fed Israeli propaganda talking points, and the journalists not only parrots Israeli propagandists word-for-word but the "story" becomes a front-page story in the New York Times.  Amazing, if you think about it.  I often wonders why Israel bothers to spend millions on propaganda in the US (in some years I looked at, Israel spent more than Saudi Arabia on "PR" in the US.  But the again: Israel knows full well that, without US, it will go under, and fast).