Press Council: Gideon Levy Must Apologize
Times of Israel reports:
The Israel Press Council reprimanded the Haaretz newspaper and its columnist Gideon Levy for an opinion piece earlier this year in which Levy suggested that a former border policeman had learned from his service dealing with Palestinians that “killing innocent civilians can go unpunished” and as a result shot dead four people in a Beersheba bank.
The tribunal demanded that both Levy and Haaretz issue an apology, Haaretz reported on Thursday. . . .
The Israel Police lodged a complaint with the Press Council after the opinion piece was published. In its decision, the council rejected a claim by Haaretz and Levy that the article was an acceptable expression of opinion and should therefore be allowed.
It said that Levy had broken the code of ethics that requires a journalist to check facts, to be accurate, and to refrain from referring to the ethnic backgrounds of people unless it is relevant to the subject. Likewise, Haaretz itself should have verified the article’s content and its accuracy, the council asserted.
As an example, it noted that Alon, the shooter, had only served in the Border Police for one year in 1995-1996, that during that time he conducted joint patrols with Palestinian security forces, and that he had not been involved in any incidents that could be construed as causing him to commit the assault in the bank 17 years later. Likewise, there was no basis for the claim that in the Border Police Alon learned to “kill innocent civilians without being punished,” the council concluded.
For more on Gideon Levy’s shoddy journalism, please see here.
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