Jewish Chronicle stalwarts bail over UK paper’s ties to alleged Gaza war fabulist
Columnists Baddiel, Freedland, Aaronovitch and Freeman quit over scandal involving ‘Elon Perry’; he decries ‘witch hunt,’ tells reporter he wishes Hamas ‘would kill you’
London’s Jewish Chronicle newspaper was rocked by a string of high-profile departures Sunday as scandal swirled around the newspaper’s association with a freelance writer alleged to have fabricated stories on the Gaza war, amid wider questions about the outlet’s ownership and direction.
The JC said Friday it was cutting ties with Elon Perry after doubts surfaced about his professed background and the veracity of a series of stories he published containing accounts of daring Israeli operations and claiming to offer an unparalleled inside view of intelligence material. He denies wrongdoing.
Perry, who was born Eli Yifrach according to an expose published on Israeli TV last week, told The Observer, the Guardian’s Sunday newspaper, that his firing was the product of a “witch-hunt… caused by jealousy from Israeli journalists and outlets who could not obtain the details that I managed to.”
In an emailed statement in response to a request for comment from The Times of Israel on Monday, Perry also decried the “witch-hunt” against him, said he would go to prison before revealing his sources and defended questions over his biography.
“The Israeli leftist media are accusing me of supporting [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and trying to silence me by attacking me through writing details that are marginal that are not related to the essence of the article,” Perry said in the statement. “I am standing by my stories 100% and will never reveal my source.”
He added that the Jewish Chronicle “will regret its statement after all the great stories and scoops I have provided them with,” adding that accusations that he is working on behalf of Netanyahu or his government are “absolutely untrue.”
On Sunday, David Baddiel, Jonathan Freedland, David Aaronovitch and Hadley Freeman, four of the paper’s most prominent columnists, announced on social media they would no longer write for the outlet, at one time considered among the world’s most influential Jewish news outfits.
“The latest scandal brings great disgrace on the paper — publishing fabricated stories and showing only the thinnest form of contrition — but it is only the latest,” Freedland wrote in an open letter to editor Jake Wallis Simons, saying the paper had become too partisan.
“The problem in this case is that there can be no real accountability because the JC is owned by a person or people who refuse to reveal themselves,” he added.
The letter was shared on X by Aaronovitch, who said he too had told Simons he could not continue at the paper.
I have done the same https://t.co/s5Mmc36gJy
— David Aaronovitch (@DAaronovitch) September 15, 2024
Freeman wrote on X that “recent events have made it impossible for me to stay.”
A spokesperson for Baddiel told The Guardian that he “has no plans to write any more columns for the paper,” and declined further comment.
The British newspaper launched an investigation after publishing multiple articles by Perry claiming inside knowledge of Israeli intelligence, including one this month in which he alleged a document had been uncovered in the Gaza Strip proving that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was planning to smuggle himself and some of the remaining Israeli hostages kidnapped on October 7 out of Gaza via the Philadelphi Corridor and from there to Iran.
The Israel Defense Forces said it was unaware of any such document existing, and some speculated that the claim was part of a disinformation campaign, noting it dovetailed with recent talking points by Netanyahu arguing against withdrawing troops from the strategic border belt as part of a hostage deal.
Perry has also faced questions about his biography, including his claims to have served as a commando soldier during Operation Entebbe and that he was a professor at Tel Aviv University for 15 years. An investigation by Channel 13’s Hatzinor news magazine last week found that both claims were false.
“While we understand he did serve in the Israel Defense Forces, we were not satisfied with some of his claims,” the JC said Friday, without further elaborating. “We have therefore removed his stories from our website and ended any association with Mr. Perry.”
Perry wrote two blog posts on the Times of Israel’s blog platform in 2021. His blog has been taken down.
Perry in his statement Monday said he was part of the Entebbe operation “as a reserve force that remained on Israeli soil on standby in case something went wrong,” blaming the creator of his website for incorrect details about that and other elements of his biography.
In a recording of a Hebrew conversation with the Hatzinor journalist who investigated his claimed background, originally broadcast last week and aired again on Sunday, Perry could be heard wishing death upon the reporter.
“You are a monster, a maniac, a liar. I don’t understand who created you. I wish Hamas would kill you, you are unnecessary in Israeli society,” he said in the recording.
“I have no regrets,” he added. “You should be the one who is regretful.”
He contended that his firing was part of a “deal” he had reached with the JC. “They needed to write what they wrote to satisfy you and the others,” he said.
In another excerpt of the Hatzinor conversation, Perry, infuriated that his background and biography were being scrutinized, also denounced the Israeli people and nation, saying, “You are a screwed-up people, full of baseless hatred. If Hamas wasn’t there, you’d have been destroyed long ago and scattered across the diaspora. That’s why I’m not there [in Israel], and thousands like me aren’t there.”
Simons, who has faced calls to step down since the scandal erupted, said in a statement posted on X late Sunday that the paper was implementing stiffer standards.
“I understand why some columnists have decided to step back from the paper. I am grateful for their contributions and hope that, in time, some of them will feel able to return,” he wrote. “I take full responsibility for the mistakes that have been made and I will take equal responsibility for the task of making sure nothing like this can happen again.”
Obviously it’s every newspaper editor’s worst nightmare to be deceived by a journalist.
The @JewishChron has cut all ties with the freelancer in question and his work has now been removed from our website. Readers can be assured that stronger internal procedures are being…— Jake Wallis Simons (@JakeWSimons) September 15, 2024
The Jewish Chronicle’s initial announcement last week that it was investigating Perry came days after the IDF said it was launching an internal probe after documents recovered from Gaza were recently leaked to foreign press in an apparent attempt to influence public opinion on the hostage negotiations.
The JC has faced criticism in recent months over a lack of transparency regarding who owns the paper and guides its editorial policy. The outlet was rescued from going defunct in 2020 by a consortium led by Robbie Gibb, the BBC’s former head of political programming, but has not answered questions regarding who funded the acquisition.
