Bloomberg Corrects: Officials Cited Terror (Not Militant) Attack

CAMERA’s Israel office has prompted correction of a Bloomberg article yesterday (“Palestinian Gunman Kills 2 Israelis in West Bank Shooting“) which incorrectly reported: “A Palestinian man opened fire in an Israeli industrial park in the West Bank, killing two Israelis and wounding a third in what officials characterized as a militant attack.” (Emphasis added.) In fact, officials rightly characterized yesterday’s attack in the Barkan industrial park, in which a Palestinian gunman fatally shot two Israeli civilians and wounded a third, as a terror attack, not a militant attack.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of yesterday’s Cabinet meeting: “This was a very severe terrorist attack in which two Israelis were brutally murdered and a citizen was also wounded.”

President Reuben Rivlin said in his statement yesterday: “I am shocked and saddened by this morning’s terrible terrorist attack at the Barkan industrial area.”

AFP reported yesterday (“Palestinian kills two Israelis in West Bank shooting: army”): “Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus called it a ‘terrorist attack’ but added that other unspecified factors were involved.”

Bloomberg editors agreed with CAMERA that the officials’ position was misrepresented, and commendably amended the article to refer to the killing two Israelis and wounding a third in what officials characterized as a terror attack,” as opposed to militant attack.

In addition, Bloomberg appended a correction to the bottom of the article, alerting readers to the change.