An Israeli newspaper has admitted that its report on an incident in an Orthodox community was fabricated — and the reporter who wrote the story has resigned.
Yediot Achronot published a retraction Monday, admitting that rumors were the source of its story about a religious court in Bnei Brak forcing a man to divorce his wife because she was raped.
The story, denounced last week by a Bnei Brak rabbi as a hoax, had caused an uproar among Orthodox Jews. It also drew protests from Israeli women’s groups.
A group called Manof – the Center for Jewish Information filed a complaint with a journalists association against the reporter who wrote the story, saying he acted on rumors that were not thoroughly checked.
An investigation by another Israeli newspaper, Ha’aretz, found the story to be untrue.
The Ha’aretz reporter, appearing on Israel Television, said she tried for a week to locate the woman referred to in the Yediot report and learned that a rumor about a similar incident had been circulating for some time.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
