Under the headline “Israel plans death penalty for Palestinian militants,” The Sunday Times (UK) makes the following claim:
Israel is poised to introduce the death penalty for Palestinian militants after Benjamin Netanyahu invited an ultranationalist party to join his coalition government.
There are not one, but two major problems with this headline and article text.
The first is the use of the word “militants.” Militants can describe almost anyone with extreme views. Is Lieberman really proposing the death penalty for any Palestinian deemed to be an extremist?
No. The proposal that Lieberman supports is capital punishment for convicted terrorists. While still controversial, the concept sounds less extreme when accurate terminology is used. (See our Red Lines media bias article and video on Misleading Terminology.)
But the most misleading part of the headline and the article is the assertion that the State of Israel is actively planning this legislation. That is simply not true.
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Just because a member of the Knesset, even an incoming Defense Minister, has a certain view, does not make that view national policy. Unless and until the government of Israel officially endorses and makes it government policy, and it is brought to the Knesset for a vote, it is nothing more than a proposal. (In this particular case, Lieberman had originally wanted Netanyahu to accept his policy as a condition for entering the governing coalition. As of this writing, the final status of this proposal is still up in the air, although there is significant opposition to it within the government.)
Yet The Sunday Times article, which also appeared in other publications around the world such as The Australian, fails to accurately inform readers not only the specifics of the proposal but its status.
The International Business Times uses the headline “Israeli government could introduce the death penalty for Palestinian militants.” Using the word “could” at least lets the reader know that this is a possibility, not a fait accompli.
That article also notes that:
The Knesset, the Israeli parliament, has several times voted down petitions to expand the death penalty. In 2015, Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu party introduced a bill to expand the use of capital punishment, which was rejected at its first reading by 94 votes to six.
It is fair to say that the appointment of Lieberman is not without controversy. However, the media have an obligation to report accurately on events and let readers come to an informed opinion.
HonestReporting CEO Joe Hyams said:
The responsibility of the journalist is to ensure that the typical news consumer can reasonably make an informed and accurate picture of facts on the ground. This sensationalist headline more likely represents the views of the writer rather than an accurate description of the status of the proposal.
You can write to the Sunday Times Foreign Desk and demand that it reports accurately on events in Israel – [email protected]
Photo by Nati Shohat / Flash 90.
