When People Who Know Better Say Tel Aviv is Israel’s Capital

By Published On: January 26, 2015

Ellie Geranmayeh, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, is the second observer of international affairs in recent days whose fancy title didn’t stop her from misidentifying Tel Aviv as Israel’s capital in a leading American newspaper.

Referring to the capitals of Iran, the U.S and Israel, respectively, Geranmayeh writes today in The New York Times (“Political sabotage over a deal with Iran“): “Spoilers have been striking from Tehran, Washington and Tel Aviv.” (Emphasis added.)

In The International New York Times, the mischaracterization of Tel Aviv as Israel’s capital is highlighted in a pull quote.

nyt geranmayeh.jpg

Further on in the Op-Ed, Geranmayeh repeats the erroneous reference to Tel Aviv as Israel’s capital, stating: “The results of the Israeli elections could deflate Tel Aviv’s fierce opposition to current negotiations with Iran.”

Earlier this month it was Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, who was also in a position to know exactly where the seat of Israel’s government is. Nevertheless, he wrote in a Jan. 15 Op-Ed in The Los Angeles Times (“The Palestinians’ decision to join the ICC deserves support“):

In Washington, Ottawa, Paris and London, as well as in Tel Aviv, the response [to the Palestinians’ move to join the International Criminal Court] has ranged from discouraging to condemnatory.

Following communication from CAMERA, Los Angeles Times editors commendably published the following correction Jan. 22:

Israel: A Jan 15 OpEd about the Palestinians’ move to join the International Criminal Court implied that Tel Aviv is the seat of the Israeli government. The government is based in Jerusalem.

The New York Times itself in the past has previously corrected this point. The Nov. 22, 2002 correction stated:

An article yesterday about a man accused of having tried to hijack an El Al plane en route to Istanbul from Tel Aviv referred incorrectly to Tel Aviv. It is not he capital of Israel; Jerusalem is.

CAMERA has sent a request to Times editors that they again correct.

If Roth and Geranmayeh freely misrepresent a fact as basic as the location of Israel’s capital in order to suit their political agendas, what else are the supposed experts on international affairs distorting?

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