Crisis at Jewish Chronicle as stories based on 'wild fabrications' are withdrawn
Source: The Observer
Crisis at Jewish Chronicle as stories based on ‘wild fabrications’ are withdrawn
Newspaper’s due diligence is under scrutiny amid growing misgivings over its ownership and the role of its editor
Peter Beaumont
Sat 14 Sep 2024 16.36 BST
Last modified on Sat 14 Sep 2024 19.48 BST
The world’s oldest Jewish newspaper, the Jewish Chronicle, has removed a series of sensational articles relating to the Gaza war after claims that the material was fabricated by a “freelance journalist” who had also misrepresented his résumé.
After an investigation last week into the author, Elon Perry, the Jewish Chronicle put out a two-paragraph announcement late on Friday night, saying that it was unsatisfied with explanations supplied by the journalist regarding his assertions.
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The extraordinary events of the past week, which have now seen a series of high-profile articles taken down, began several months ago when a writer described as a British-based Israeli journalist began contributing a series of reports allegedly based on Israeli intelligence sources.
Highly sensational, the articles purported to describe blow-by-blow Israeli operations – including what would be regarded as sensitive details – and intelligence purportedly gathered by Israel on the fugitive Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and his plans.
Journalists covering the Gaza conflict, already dubious about the veracity of the material, were unable to establish a meaningful record of Perry’s bona fides as described by the paper. Those suspicions were pushed into the open last week as a series of reports in the Israeli media described Perry’s articles as “fabrications”.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/14/crisis-at-jewish-chronicle-as-stories-are-withdrawn
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Haaretz Sept 15th
"There must be a price for lying," Cohen wrote in her request. "And those spreading blatant lies intended to serve political needs must pay it - whether it is junior ranks, and even more so when it comes to senior ranks."
Some of the Israeli outlets that first highlighted Perry's reporting made the decision last week to issue retractions, including the popular current events program "Hazinor" on Channel 13.
It subsequently opened an investigation into claims Perry had made regarding his professional and military experience. The program discovered that he had seemingly lied about, among other things, being a professor at Tel Aviv University and participating in the famous IDF 1976 Entebbe rescue operation.
When a journalist from "Hazinor" confronted Perry over the phone about his résumé claims, Perry lashed out, saying: "You all don't know how to be supportive. You are such a backwards people, full of hate.
"If it wasn't for Hamas," he added, mysteriously, "Israel would be destroyed and the people scattered all over the Diaspora. That's the reason I am not there and thousands like me aren't there."
