Reuters Amends Bogus Quote Which Echoed Hamas Lie That Ben-Gvir Released Plans for Temple Mount Synagogue

By: Tamar Sternthal August 26, 2024

Hamas is citing a new Temple Mount libel to whip up more deadly violence, and Reuters stoked the fire with a bogus quote.

Times of Israel provides the background on Hamas’ fictitious claim that far-right Israeli security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir today announced plans to build a synagogue at the flashpoint site, Judaism’s most sacred place and the location of the Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third-holiest spot (“Fuming Palestinians claim Ben-Gvir announced plans for synagogue on Temple Mount“):

Speaking to Army Radio earlier in the day, Ben Gvir said Jews would not be prevented from praying atop the Temple Mount, currently banned as part of a status quo agreement governing the sensitive site.

After noting that even he cannot do whatever he wants at the compound, like waving an Israeli flag, he was asked if he would also want a synagogue there if it were possible, to which he answered in the affirmative.

A statement from Hamas claims, however, that Ben Gvir announced plans “to build a synagogue inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” urging Palestinians to mass at the site “to confront the occupation’s plans.”

In a statement, the mufti of Jerusalem speaks out against “the threat of a synagogue” at the site and Jews visiting the site praying or dancing.

Such moves “push the region toward an explosion that will affect the entire world,” it says.

Here’s how Reuters originally reported Ben-Gvir’s Army Radio comments that he would build a Temple Mount synagogue if he could, but that he knows he can’t (“Israeli hardliner Ben-Gvir repeats calls for prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound,” reporting by James Mackenzie):

Israel’s hardline Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir repeated a call for Jews to be allowed to pray at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, drawing sharp criticism for inflaming tensions as ceasefire negotiators seek a deal to halt fighting in Gaza.
“The policy allows prayers on the Temple Mount, there is equal law between Jews and Muslims – I would build a synagogue there,” Ben-Gvir was quoted as saying by Army Radio in a post on social media platform X, following an interview on Monday.

The aforementioned Army Radio X (formerly Twitter) post quoting from Ben-Gvir’s interview with the station does not contain the quote that Reuters provided.

Here is what Ben-Gvir actually said in the exchange shared on X (CAMERA’s translation):

Ben-Gvir: I say this in the simplest way. The policy for the Temple Mount enables prayer. The prime minister, and I will not expand on this subject, knew that when I joined the government, I said this in the simplest way – there will not be discrimination. There will not be racism on the Temple Mount. And it’s not that I do all that I would like to do on the Temple Mount. If I were to do all that I like, then the Israeli flag would have long been flying there.

Interviewer: If you could, would you also establish a synagogue on the Temple Mount?

Ben-Gvir: Yes, yes, yes. [Emphasis added.]

In journalism, quotation marks are sacred, and anything which appears in between them must be an exact replication of what was said. Any deleted words or phrases must be noted with an ellipsis. But Reuters’ quote neither matched Ben-Gvir’s words nor contained an ellipsis indicating that it excludes certain parts of his statement. Reuters’ bungled quote completely erased Ben-Gvir’s acknowledgment that he cannot build a synagogue there. The media outlet’s mangled rendering of the exchange falsely suggests that Ben-Gvir had said that building a synagogue is policy, when in fact he said just the opposite. 

Following CAMERA’s communication with Reuters, the media outlet amended the quote to more accurately state:

“The policy at the Temple Mount allows praying there. Period,” Ben-Gvir told an Army Radio interviewer. “The prime minister knew when I joined the government there would not be any discrimination. Muslims are allowed to pray and a Jew is not allowed to pray?”

Asked if he would build a synagogue on the site if he could, Ben-Gvir replied “Yes, Yes”.

In a second egregious factual error which Reuters has yet to correct, the article’s first paragraph fabricates:  “Israel’s hardline Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir repeated a call for Jews to be allowed to pray at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, drawing sharp criticism for inflaming tensions as ceasefire negotiators seek a deal to halt fighting in Gaza.”
The far-right Israeli minister called for Jewish prayer to be permitted on the Temple Mount.  He did not call for Jewish prayer to be permitted in the Al Aqsa mosque, which is located on the Temple Mount, and which occupies approximately one acre of the plaza’s total 36 acres.
While the Palestine Liberation Organization would love journalists to refer to the Temple Mount /Noble Sanctuary (Har Habayit in Hebrew or Haram Al-Sharif in Arabic) as the “Al Aqsa Mosque compound,” this partisan terminology is extremely misleading, and may explain the origin of Reuters’ misreporting that Ben-Gvir called for Jewish prayer in the mosque itself. (Notably, the headline uses the PLO’s preferred terminology of “Al-Aqsa mosque compound” to refer to the 36-acre plaza of which approximately just 2.5 percent constitutes the Al-Aqsa mosque.)
Israeli cabinet ministers have slammed Ben-Gvir’s Temple Mount activity as reckless. Indeed, not only did Hamas seize upon Ben-Gvir’s inflammatory statements to whip up violence, but the terror organization further fanned the flames by greatly embellishing Ben-Gvir’s already provocative pronouncements. Given the regional tinderbox, Western media outlets would do well to report with extreme caution and precision, rather than engaging in reckless misreporting liable to push the region toward an explosion that will affect the entire world, as the mufti put it.
CAMERA continues to urge Reuters to correct the false and inciting claim that Ben-Gvir called for Jewish prayer in the Al-Aqsa mosque. Stay tuned for any updates.

See also “Forbes’ Al Aqsa Libel: Ben-Gvir, 100s of Jewish Israelis Enter ‘Mosque’.” [Editors editors commendably blocked the YouTube video from further access to any viewers.]

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