Once again, Israel has been blamed for the killing of a 10-year-old Palestinian child, and the death is expected to fuel Arab hatred of Israel. But was Israel really responsible?
"Since the 1996 elections in Israel, and almost through the end of Ehud Barak's government, there was quite a long period of quiet on the security front. There were almost no terror attacks," asserts Ha'aretz's Danny Rubinstein today. In this so-called period of quiet, some 63 Israelis were killed in more than 40 terror attacks including stabbings, bombings and shootings.
In a familiar syndrome, many otherwise impartial American journalists newly posted in Israel slip quickly in their reporting into unmistakably hostile views of the country. Why?
One factor is their sources in the Israeli media.