Jerusalem Post Corrects Headline About ‘More Settlements’

CAMERA has prompted correction of a digital Jerusalem Post headline which incorrectly stated: “Israel Advancing Plans for 4X More Settlements Than Last Year.”
 

 
Of course, as the Oct. 10 article itself makes clear, the reported figure of 12,000 refers to residential units within existing settlements, and not new settlements. The article states:

Israel will have advanced plans for 12,000 settler homes in 2017, Israeli officials said on Tuesday as they continued to defend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against charges that he had not done enough for Jewish building in the West Bank.

To date, plans for 5,000 settler homes have been advanced and tenders have been issued for 3,000 homes. Next week, the Higher Planing Council for Judea and Samaria is set to hold its third meeting this year.

According to officials, it will advance plans for 3,763 homes, bringing the total to close to 12,000.

Following communication from CAMERA, The Jerusalem Post commendably amended the headline, which now states: “Israel Advancing Plans for 4X More Settler Homes Than Last Year.”
 

 
Contrary to standard journalistic practice, The Post did not append a note to readers alerting them about the correction.
 
Other media outlets which have previously corrected similar errors about alleged “new” or “more” settlements include National Public Radio, Christian Science Monitor, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and The New York Times (twice). Also, last December, Ben Rhodes, deputy national advisor for strategic communications during the Obama administration, infamously stated on PBS’ “Newshour” that Israel was constructing “tens of thousands” of settlements. Ignoring the advice of the network’s own ombudsman, “Newshour” failed to clarify Rhodes’ wildly false claim. In addition, following a reader complaint, The Chicago Tribune issued the following correction a few days ago:
 

 
As for nearly 3,800 homes reported to be advanced this week, according to Haaretz (“Netanyahu Pledged 3,800 New Settlement Homes, but Only 600 Will Be Actually Built“):

The 3,800 units presented to the public is an inflated, recycled number, with the government expected to give immediate building permits to only 600 units.

Of these, 300 homes will be in Beit El, promised to the settlement after the demolition of the homes in Ulpana Hill over five years ago. The plan has gotten all the required approvals and bids will now be solicited from contractors. There are also 86 units slated for Kochav Yaakov for those evacuated from the illegal outpost at Migron, the fulfillment of a promise made in 2012. There will also be a significant expansion of thesettlement of Nokdim, which is where Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman lives and where 146 new homes will be built. Also to be approved are nine homes in Psagot and 30 in the Jewish area of Hebron.

So what happened to the other 3,200 promised homes? All will be advanced a stage in the lengthy bureaucratic process, but building will not begin soon and these plans could easily be halted at any time by either Netanyahu or Lieberman.

For additional Jerusalem Post corrections prompted by CAMERA, please see here
 
This article was updated on Oct. 16 to include the recent Chicago Tribune correction.

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