CAMERA’s Israel office today prompted correction of a series of articles in Haaretz‘s English edition which erroneously reported that a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin originally scheduled for Feb. 21 was intended to help strengthen coordination between the Israeli and Syrian armies. Postponed until this Wednesday, the meeting will in fact aim to step up coordination between the Israeli and Russian, not Syrian, armies.
Thursday’s page-one article (“PM’s promises seal deal between far-right party and Kahanists,” Feb. 21, and online here), stated:
Thursday’s meeting was meant to focus on regional affairs, the situation in Syria and the strengthening of the security coordination between Israel and Syria’s armies.
A second article, which appeared in the same print edition (page 2, “PM cancels Putin meeting as election rivals struggling to unite,” and online here) reported the same sentence, word for word.
The Hebrew edition, in contrast, referred to a strengthening of the coordination between “the armies,” ie the Israeli and Russian armies.
In September, Syrian anti-aircraft missiles shot down an Israeli plane while trying to thwart an Israeli airstrike on the Syrian city of Latakia. Also in September, the Israeli military acknowledged having carried out over 200 strikes on Iranian targets in Syria since 2017.
In response to communication from CAMERA, Haaretz editors promptly amended all of the erroneous online references to coordination with the Syria military. The amended text now accurately states that the two leaders intend to discuss “regional affairs, the situation in Syria and the strengthening of the security coordination.”
Contrary to standard journalistic practice, a note is not appended to the bottom of the articles alerting readers to the change.
See also “Haaretz, Lost in Translation”