Daily Mail bizarrely claims Israel’s 2009 settlement freeze didn’t happen

This June 13th article at the Daily Mail (“Naftali Bennett becomes Israeli’s new Prime Minister ending Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12 year reign as coalition government is voted in – including first Arab faction in country’s history”), by Rachel Bunyan, included the following, in a paragraph about the former prime minister:

Netanyahu began his long rule by defying the Obama administration, refusing to freeze settlement construction as it tried unsuccessfully to revive the peace process.

As we argued in a complaint to Daily Mail editors, the claim that Netanyahu, in 2009, defied Barack Obama and refused to implement a settlement freeze is clearly false. As media outlets reported at the time, Israel did indeed agree to the 10 month settlement freeze.  Talks went nowhere, however, because Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas continued to refuse to negotiate with Israel until just weeks before the settlement freeze was set to expire.
CNN, Nov. 25, 2009
Haaretz, Nov. 25, 2009

 

NBC News, Nov. 25, 2009
Despite the unambiguous nature of the error, editors have thus far failed to correct the article.  If they continue refusing to correct, we’ll take the complain to IPSO.  In the meantime, those of you who wish to politely complain to the Daily Mail can do so by using this online form.
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