In a hyperbolic opinion piece for Time Magazine, titled “Israeli Democracy May Not Survive Netanyahu’s New Government,” Brooklyn-based Haaretz contributor Etan Nechin has a go at members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recently-formed government, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir:
On January 3, newly appointed Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, a convicted terrorist-sympathizer who in the past incited against assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, visited Al Aqsa Mosque, an act security experts warned might spark a regional war.” [Emphasis added.]
As HonestReporting outlined in a January 5 critique, the assertion that Ben-Gvir “visited Al-Aqsa Mosque” during his walk around the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is demonstrably false.
In fact, the Islamic structures on Temple Mount are off-limits to Jewish visitors. During his 13-minute walk, Ben-Gvir stuck strictly to the sole, narrow path permitted to Jews. This police-enforced route only passes the Al-Aqsa Mosque briefly, at no point entering the structure:
Related Reading:
The ‘Jews Endanger Al-Aqsa’ Libel
While criticism of the Israeli government and its policies is entirely legitimate, Nechin’s fraudulent claims about Ben-Gvir’s visit to the Jewish holy site have the very real potential to ignite Palestinian violence.
Perceived threats to the Al-Aqsa Mosque have long been a rallying cry for terrorism. After a Palestinian gunman murdered three Israelis and injured more than a dozen others in Tel Aviv on April 7, 2022, terror groups in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were quick to link the attack to the myth that the sanctity of Al-Aqsa was being threatened.
HonestReporting drew attention to the error in a widely-shared tweet, tagging Time Magazine and Etan Nechin.
Yet instead of acknowledging his evident mistake, the latter responded by attempting to ridicule our work. “So the ‘fact-checking site claimed I suggested Ben-Gvir visited Al Aqsa Mosque. Then they give my quote in which I don’t. Great fact-checking!” Nechin wrote, accusing HonestReporting of being “propagandists” in subsequent Twitter posts.
Except you did. pic.twitter.com/kh83BuR6DA
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) January 11, 2023
Nechin soon became the subject of ridicule himself, with social media users pointing out that he did claim Ben-Gvir visited the mosque (see here, here, here, and here). Indeed, the journalist’s odd gaslighting makes one wonder whether he reads his own articles.
Meanwhile, Time Magazine quickly issued a correction reading, “The piece was updated to reflect that Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the Al Aqsa Mosque complex” — still echoing the disingenuous Palestinian propaganda line depicting all of Judaism’s holiest site as being part of the mosque compound.
Related Reading:
‘Jews Have No Business Being in East Jerusalem’
The centrality of the Temple Mount to Judaism is beyond dispute. During prayer three times a day, Jews have faced the sacred Jerusalem hilltop since time immemorial. Contrary to what some news outlets like to suggest, the Western Wall is not Judaism’s “most significant site.” Case in point: the wall — the last remaining part of the Second Temple compound — only became a place of importance in the sixteenth century.
However, in Etan Nechin’s opinion, “anyone who goes up to temple mount is a sick f*ck and goes against Jewish religion,” as Jews have “no business” being in eastern Jerusalem.
In 2021, HonestReporting uncovered dozens of other anti-Israel tweets posted by the Haifa-born journalist, as well as antisemitic slander directed at Jews who disagree with him. For example, Nechin made a vile dual loyalty accusation against the US ambassador to Israel. According to the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, this can constitute Jew-hatred. Nechin, however, blames antisemitism on “Israeli policies.”
His blind hatred for the Jewish state, coupled with his complete disregard for the facts, should perhaps disqualify Nechin from commenting on Israeli political developments in international media outlets.
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