Israeli officials with the IDF search and rescue delegation to Turkey, upon their return to Israel, Feb. 13, 2023 (Photo by Haim Zach/GPO)
CAMERA’s Israel office this week prompted correction of a Newsweek article which had wrongly reported that Israel has no ties with any of the countries which sent rescue missions to Turkey. Tom O’Connor’s Feb. 9 article, “Israel Troops Say Voices Still Heard in Turkey Earthquake Rubble Days Later,” had absurdly erred: “And despite Israel’s difficult relationship with Turkey and lack of any ties with other nations that have sent rescue units, Colonel Liron Gershowitz, head of the IDF Home Front Command’s Medical Division, said diplomatic problems have been a ‘non-issue’ for the common goal of saving lives.” (Emphasis added.)
Among the countries which sent rescue units to Turkey and which maintain ties with Israel are the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, South Korea, India, Mexico, China, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Moldova, New Zealand, El Salvador, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Austria, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine and United Arab Emirates.
and The few countries which sent rescue missions to Turkey with which Israel has no relations include Afghanistan, Algeria, Iran, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Pakistan.
Following communication from CAMERA’s Jerusalem office, Newsweek quickly amended the article, which now accurately refers to Israel’s “lack of any ties with some of the other nations that have sent rescue units.” In addition, Newsweek commendably posted a clarification to the bottom of the article alerting readers to the change. It states: “Correction, 2/12/23, 11:50 a.m. ET: This article was updated to clarify that Israel lacks diplomatic ties with only some of the other nations that have sent rescue units.”