Headline Confusion Reigns at The Times

The Regulation Bill concerning the retroactive legalization of Israeli settlements that were initially unauthorized by Israeli governments is highly contentious both within Israel and outside. Nonetheless that doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be reported on accurately.

[You can read more about the Regulation Bill here.]

HonestReporting flagged The Times of London (subscription only) for its inaccurate headline in its report on the Knesset vote on the preliminary reading of the legislation. The Times responded by making an amendment that effectively changed nothing.

Here is the original headline:

Only in the penultimate paragraph of the article do you learn the following:

The bill needs three more readings before it becomes law, but it is expected to pass without too much trouble.

Therefore, Israel hasn’t approved any settlements. This was a preliminary reading which passed the first stage. The legislation still needs to pass two more readings in the Knesset and, even then, it is most likely to be challenged in Israel’s Supreme Court. Ultimately it may never make it into the statute books.

The bottom line is that The Times’s headline is inaccurate and has seriously jumped the gun. Compare this with The Independent’s accurate headline that reads: “Israel steps closer to legalising unauthorised settlements in West Bank.”

We put in a request to The Times for a change in the headline. The result was laughable.

While the penultimate paragraph has now been moved to a more prominent position as the second paragraph, this is what the headline has been amended to:

Clearly someone at The Times got the wrong end of the stick. We’ve sent another followup  email to The Times. Watch this space.