Today’s Top Stories
1. The Wall St. Journal fired its veteran foreign affairs reporter Jay Solomon over his “involvement in prospective commercial deals — including one involving arms sales to foreign governments — with an international businessman who was one of his key sources.”
AP laid out Solomon’s conflicts of interest, which prompted the Wall St. Journal (click via Twitter) to dismiss Solomon. Solomon’s dealings came up in the context of a larger expose of arms dealer Farhad Azima.
As part of its reporting, the AP had asked the Journal about the documents appearing to link Solomon and Azima. The relationship was uncovered in interviews and in internal documents that Azima’s lawyer said were stolen by hackers.
“I clearly made mistakes in my reporting and entered into a world I didn’t understand.” Solomon told the AP on Wednesday. “I never entered into any business with Farhad Azima, nor did I ever intend to. But I understand why the emails and the conversations I had with Mr. Azima may look like I was involved in some seriously troubling activities. I apologize to my bosses and colleagues at the Journal, who were nothing but great to me.”
For a deeper understanding of the seriousness of Solomon’s conflict of interest, see Defining Bias: Lack of Transparency.
2. A ‘devastating’ survey shows a huge loss of Israel support among Jewish college students.
In sum, the gap between Israel-supporters and detractors is widening. The current Israel advocacy programs are not working, and Jewish college students are the leading defectors from Israel support.
The Jerusalem Post also picked up on the Brand Israel Group’s findings. And see Gary Rosenblatt’s reaction: Are next-gen Americans pulling away from Israel?
3. Israeli police are bracing for last the Friday of Ramadan prayers in Jerusalem.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
4. EXCLUSIVE: How Reporting From Israel Changed My Worldview Forever: In an exclusive article for HonestReporting, foreign journalist Hunter Stuart recounts how he was exposed to the realities of reporting from Israel and found that his pro-Palestinian views were dramatically changed as a result.
5. Our very own Simon Plosker appears regularly on South Africa’s Chai FM radio. This week, he discussed with host Howard Feldman the BBC and Al-Quds Day marches. Listen online.
6. HonestReporting’s Daniel Pomerantz was on the i24 News show, News Desk, where he discussed the BBC’s apology for a bungled headline on the murder of an Israeli Border Poicewoman by a Palestinian terrorist.
Israel and the Palestinians
• The Palestinian Authority asked UNESCO to “protect” the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Hebron’s Old City from Israel. The Jerusalem Post writes:
The Palestinian delegation to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, in a letter to the World Heritage Center, spoke of “alarming details about the Israeli violations in Al-Khalil/ Hebron, including the continuous acts of vandalism, property damage, and other attacks.”
• Trying to re-start peace efforts, Jared Kushner and David Greenblatt visited Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas for jaw-jaw time. More at the Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel and Associated Press. One incident noted by the Times of London caught my eye:
Neither side made any public comment about the meetings, which were held in unusual secrecy: cameramen were not even allowed to film Mr Kushner’s convoy arriving at the prime minister’s residence. One photographer from the Associated Press was ordered to delete the images on his memory card.
• National Public Radio discussed US peace efforts with Israeli writer Yossi Klein Halevi, who met with White House envoy Jason Greenblatt.
Commentary/Analysis
• Is Gal Gadot’s casting as Wonder Woman a ‘slap’ in the face of Palestinian women?
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror: Saudi Arabia’s young, determined heir
– John Bradley: Unlikely allies: Israel and the Saudis
– Benny Avni: Jared Kushner’s falling into a trap on Mideast peace
– Bassam Tawil: The ongoing drama of Palestinian lies
– Julie Lenarz: Hamas is behind Gaza’s suffering, not Israel
– Nadav Shragai: Jerusalem: Beware of Turks bearing gifts
– Malcolm Lowe: Israel’s new settlement policy: Evaluated and explained
– Annika Hernroth-Rothstein: Jeremy Corbyn and the road to hell
Featured image: CC0 Pexels; Solomon via YouTube/Middle East Institute; Wonder Woman via YouTube/Entertainment Access;
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
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