An April 10th article in The Times (How coronavirus will change the world forever), by Mid-East correspondent Catherine Philp, included the following:
The leaders of Israel and Hungary have…swept aside the authority of parliament, the courts and elections. Will they ever give them back?
This passage (screenshot below) in your article @thetimes is inaccurate.
The Knesset and courts are still functioning.
See here: https://t.co/Ms050rlFl5
And, here: https://t.co/foeEvSJwKd
And, in what sense have elections been "swept away"? pic.twitter.com/zxx48rFwOI
— CAMERA UK (formerly UK Media Watch and BBC Watch) (@CAMERAorgUK) April 10, 2020
A new Knesset was sworn in following the March elections and has been active – and passed legislation – ever since. Further, though the courts did curtail their activity due to concerns over the spread of the virus, they certainly didn’t close, nor was their authority “swept aside”. In fact, the Supreme Court has been quite active, and even ruled against the ruling party .
The suggestion that elections were “swept aside” is even more absurd. Though the results of the March 2nd contest (the third national elections in less than a year) were inconclusive, after weeks of negotiations it led to an agreement between Likud and Blue and White to form a unity government.
Following our complaint, and subsequent follow-up emails to editors, they finally agreed to remove the claim that Israel has “swept aside the authority of parliament, the courts and elections”.
Philip, The Time’s Chief Diplomat Jester.