Success: The Economist Corrects “Settler-Only Road” Error

HR gets the correction.

By Simon Plosker April 23, 2014

An article in The Economist, “The final fizzling of negotiations,” contained the following sentence in reference to the murder of Baruch Mizrahi, fired on by a Palestinian terrorist on his way to a Passover Seder:

The next day a Palestinian gunman fired on cars on a nearby road restricted to settlers, killing one of them.

HonestReporting wrote to The Economist pointing out that:

1. The road on which the attack occurred is not “restricted to settlers.” In fact, like virtually all major highways within the West Bank, Route 35 is open to Palestinian traffic.

2. Baruch Mizrahi was not a “settler” but lived in the Israeli city of Modi’in within the Green Line. In any case, where he lived should in no way legitimize or excuse an act of terrorism.

Following our email, The Economist published the following under the article:

Correction: An earlier version of this article mistakenly said that the road in Hebron was restricted to settlers and that the victim of the attack was a settler. This was corrected on April 22nd 2014.

Many factual errors and falsehoods have, over time, contributed to misconceptions surrounding Israel’s activities in the West Bank – the road network being one of them. It is therefore important that errors such as these are corrected.

[sc:bottomsignup ]

© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025

Simon Plosker

Simon Plosker

With over two decades of experience in various non-governmental organizations in the UK and Israel, Simon Plosker returned to HonestReporting in October 2022 as Editorial Director having previously been part of the organization’s management team from 2005 to 2020.

Prior to his first spell at HonestReporting, Simon worked in Israel for NGO Monitor, BICOM, and served for a short period in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. He was Managing Editor of the Geneva-based NGO United Nations Watch for two years before moving back to the frontline defending Israel from media bias.

Simon has a BSoc.Sc in International Studies and Political Science from the University of Birmingham and an MSc in History of International Relations from the London School of Economics. He immigrated to Israel in 2001 from London.

Discover More

Get clear, reliable Israel news and tools to fight media bias.

Subscribe