CAMERA’s Israel office today prompted correction at Haaretz‘s English edition after a page-one print article, also published online, erroneously stated that Israel closed the Rafah Crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt (“ICJ ruling will cause issues in long term”).
The article erred (screenshot of the original wording at left):
Biden promised to support Egyptian-Israeli discussions to reopen the Rafah crossing, which Israel seized and closedabout two weeks ago. [Emphasis added.]
Egypt – not Israel – closed the Rafah crossing, a fact which Haaretz has accurately reported in the past.
Notably, the Hebrew version of Amos Harel’s article does not say that Israel closed the crossing. Rather, he accurately reports (CAMERA’s translation):
The Egyptians president responded positively and Biden promised to act quickly to reopen the Rafah crossing, which the IDF conquered about two weeks ago.
In response to communication from CAMERA’s Jerusalem office, editors today prompted amended the digital text, which now accurately reports:
Biden promised to support Egyptian-Israeli discussions to reopen the Rafah crossing, which Israel seized two weeks ago.
A screenshot from an AP video showing the Rafah Crossing after Israel gained control of the Palestinian side, May 7, 2024
Contrary to common journalistic practice, editors did not append a note to the online article alerting readers to the change. Stay tuned for an update about a possible print edition correction.
For additional instances in which misinformation about Israel appears in Haaretz‘s English edition, but not in the media outlet’s parallel Hebrew item, please see “Haaretz, Lost in Translation.”
May 27 Update: Haaretz Publishes Print Edition Correction
The following correction commendably appears on page 2 of today's print edition:
In Amos Harel's analysis "ICJ ruling will cause issues in long term" published May 26, it was incorrectly stated due to a translation error that Israel closed the Rafah crossing into Egypt.