The management has dismissed a journalist from the London-based weekly, suspected of spreading false information that legitimized the Israeli prime minister’s position against Hamas.

This is a blow to the reputation of the Jewish Chronicle, considered the world’s oldest Jewish newspaper – the weekly has been published continuously for 183 years. Based in London and written in English, the management acknowledged on Friday, September 13, that the information signed by one of the weekly’s pens, Elon Perry, recently recruited, was not reliable and that his articles had been removed from the website.

“The Jewish Chronicle has concluded an in-depth investigation into independent journalist Elon Perry, which began after allegations were made about certain aspects of his work. While we understand that he served in the Israeli Defense Forces, we are not satisfied with some of his claims. We have therefore removed his articles from our website and have ended all collaboration with Mr. Perry,” the newspaper’s management stated on its website. The latter assures that it “deeply regrets the chain of events” that led to the publication of articles with dubious information, and apologizes to its “loyal readers.” Recruited a few months ago, Elon Perry has very recently signed a series of scoops, including one, on September 5, relying on Israeli “intelligence sources,” detailing an alleged plan by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to escape from the Gaza Strip via the Philadelphia Corridor, along the Gaza-Egypt border. The explosive information suddenly gave credence to the claims made by Benjamin Netanyahu the day before, during a press conference. The Israeli Prime Minister insisted on the need to maintain an Israeli military presence on the Gaza-Egypt border, a demand that many in Israel see as an obstacle to reaching a ceasefire agreement and freeing the hostages held in Gaza.

“Rightward drift”

Taking up and amplified by Israeli far-right media, and shared on social media by Yair Netanyahu, the Prime Minister’s son, the Jewish Chronicle scoop was quickly called into question by Israeli journalists. Elon Perry’s information was considered unfounded by an army spokesman, Daniel Hagari. The investigative newspaper +972 also makes the link with another article, published in early September in the German daily Bild, distilling “fabricated” information on Hamas’ strategy, which does not consider the search for a ceasefire as a priority.

Citing the investigations of the Israeli TV channel Channel 13 on the service record of Elon Perry (the latter, on his website, claims to have been part of commandos of the Israeli army who fought in Gaza), the magazine +972 even puts forward the theory of a pro-Netanyahu campaign. It quotes the very experienced journalist Shlomi Eldar who does not hesitate, on X, to point out “leaks” coming directly from the office of the Israeli prime minister to “influence” the foreign press. Jenny Manson, co-president of the association Jewish Voice for Labour (bringing together British Jews defending the Palestinian cause), considers it “very shocking” that the Jewish Chronicle could publish such false information. She is not surprised, however: “I am a secular Jewish, left-wing, and very proud of my Jewish roots. The Jewish Chronicle was a newspaper respected by my family for a very long time. But its drift to the right began years ago, and it became glaring when the newspaper multiplied accusations of anti-Semitism against Jeremy Corbyn,” Jenny Manson told Le Monde. The former leader of Labour was excluded from his own party by his successor, Keir Starmer, now Prime Minister, who criticized him for not having sufficiently condemned anti-Semitic behavior within the movement when he was its leader. On Sunday, September 15, four of the newspaper’s best-known contributors resigned to protest against the publication of the fabricated information. “This scandal is a disgrace (…), but it is only the latest,” deplores on X one of them, Jonathan Freedland, also a contributor to the Guardian, who regrets the “partisan” side of the Jewish Chronicle.

Source: Le Monde