The Al Jazeera network on Sunday issued an apology over a tweet it posted after Saturday’s stabbing attack in Jerusalem and which outraged its viewers.
“Palestinian shot dead after fatal stabbing in Jerusalem; 2 Israeli victims also killed,” read the tweet, which was posted after the attack in which Rabbi Nehemia Lavi and Aharon Banita Bennett were murdered.
On Sunday, the network posted an apology over the tweet, which it noted had “been widely criticized”, and added it had been written “under the pressure of breaking news”.
“Many people in our audience have pointed out that the tweet appears to minimize the killings of the Israeli victims and leaves out the context that the Palestinian man was their attacker,” said the statement.
“This criticism is valid and we regret the wording of a tweet written under the pressure of breaking news. The story on the site was briefly headlined with similar wording, which we amended in an update,” it continued.
“Al Jazeera depends on accurate reporting and strives to promptly correct all errors of fact and misjudgments in tone,” the network stressed.
“We are committed to accountability and transparency and are grateful for this feedback. We encourage our audience and others to identify and report our mistakes,” the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, the head of Israel's Government Press Office issued a warning to the BBC, following its own eyebrow-raising headline on the attack, which read, "Palestinian shot dead after Jerusalem attack kills two".
The channel later changed its headline to the more accurate "Jerusalem: Palestinian kills two Israelis in Old City," but GPO head Nitzan Hen nevertheless reprimanded the BBC for its biased reporting.
"There is a limit to the lack of objectivity in press coverage, and this time we are talking about an outrageous title which reminds one of the headline given by the CNN TV station after the slaughter at the synagogue in Har Nof, which introduced the attack as 'an attack on an Israeli mosque,'" said Hen.
"While the BBC corrected its title later this evening, tomorrow I intend to reprimand the head of their office in Israel and to warn him directly that we do not intend to let this pass unchallenged," Hen added.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Simchat Torah and Shmini Atzeret in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)