The Financial Times (FT) published an article by Guy Chavez (“Voters have had it’: influence of pro-Israel lobby group sparks backlash in the US,” Aug. 2) that included a strapline accusing the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) of being “linked” to Israel’s prime minister.
However, as we argued in a complaint to FT editors, there’s no content in the article that backs up the strapline’s assertion that AIPAC is “linked” to Netanyahu.
The only relevant sentence is where Matt Duss – a former advisor to US Senator Bernie Sanders – is quoted as saying “AIPAC is just 100 per cent in lockstep with the Netanyahu government”, which is merely Duss’s unsubstantiated opinion, and not a fact. Further, we added, even his allegation doesn’t suggest “links” between the US organisation and the government in Jerusalem.
We also expressed our concerns that such grossly misleading language evinces toxic and erroneous dual loyalty narratives.
The FT promptly upheld our complaint and amended the strapline:
The following editor’s note was added at the bottom of the article:
