Washington Post contradicts itself in two articles in the same issue, thwarting its

The Washington Post felt the need to print two articles on the same topic in the same edition of its Monday newspaper (2/12/24), both about an alleged fraying of the relationship between President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Not surprisingly to people who read The Post, the two articles contradicted each other; the Post can’t even keep their biased story straight! Perhaps there should be a mandatory retirement age for newspapers! 

In the front-page article “Biden closer to a breach” by Post authors Yasmeen Abutaleb, John Hudson, and Tyler Pager, the Post states that:

The mounting frustration with Netanyahu has prompted some of Biden’s aides to urge him to be more publicly critical of the prime minister over his country’s operation in Gaza, according to six people familiar with the conversations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

As President Ronald Reagan was known to say, “here they go again.” The Post couldn’t be more blindly irresponsible: trusting the double hearsay of unnamed sources conjecturing about unnamed aids. The unaccountability of such journalism raises the suspicion that the Post invented the Oval Office conversation.

The suspect nature of the Post’s story is evidenced by an inconsistency with another article in the same issue of the Post. In the first article, the Post stated that “U.S. officials increasingly believe his [Netanyahu’s] stated goal of destroying Hamas is elusive.” However, in “Biden presses Netanyahu on plans for hostage release, protecting civilians” — just three pages later — Karen DeYoung of the Post stated that “Biden shares Israel’s goal of defeating Hamas, said the official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity under rules set by the White House.” Clearly both views can’t be correct. Which is it? Is Biden aligned with Israel or at odds? And with the Post’s “habit” of using anonymous sources, their posturing is even more dubious.

The front-page article admitted that “the White House has rejected calls to withhold military aid to Israel or impose conditions on it,” not veering from its unconditional support of Israel. So it seems the latter article was more accurate, that the goals of the United States and Israel are fully aligned! Therefore, the Post has again let its own sloppiness thwart its goal of bashing Israel.

Dr. Michael Berenhaus is a freelance activist who works to combat anti-Israel bias in the media. He has been widely published in news sources such as The Economist, The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Image: Public domain.