ALBAWABA - The British journal "Jewish Chronicle" has apologized to its readers and withdrew a contentious article about Yahya Sinwar, the political bureau chief for Hamas. According to the initial story, Sinwar intended to use the Philadelphi Route to transport himself and a number of Israeli prisoners out of Gaza and into Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted the item during a news conference, sparking a great deal of controversy. After the article was published, "Jewish Chronicle" carried out a thorough investigation to verify the veracity of the story and the qualifications of the independent author, Ilon Perry.
Perry's stated credentials, which included a supposed commando duty during Operation Entebbe and a professorship at Tel Aviv University, were found to be inconsistent with the inquiry. The "Jewish Chronicle" made the decision to cut off communication with Perry and delete his writings from its website as a consequence.
The publication released a statement expressing remorse for the circumstances: "We found Perry's claims to be unsatisfactory, even though we acknowledge his service in the Israeli Defense Forces." We have redesigned our internal procedures to avoid such incidents in the future and sincerely apologize to our readers."
According to the investigation, a document found in Gaza revealed Sinwar's intentions to use the Philadelphi Route as a means of escape with Israeli prisoners. The Israeli military, however, denied that such a paper ever existed. The report's specifics and Netanyahu's statements were so close that "The Jerusalem Post" speculated that the piece may have been a part of a misinformation effort.
The reversal comes after an internal inquiry by the Israeli military into the leaking of papers from Gaza that were allegedly meant to sway public opinion about prisoner swap talks.
