The director of the Government Press Office on Saturday temporarily suspended the press credentials of Shlomo Mor, an Israeli citizen working as a cameraman for the television news service Vis-news.
Yoram Ettinger took the step after Mor allegedly slandered border police troops by accusing them of smashing his car while he covered an incident in Ramallah earlier this month.
Visnews immediately announced that Mor is not employed by the agency, but works on a freelance basis only three or four times a month.
Ettinger explained his decision to temporarily suspend the photographer’s credentials by saying that Mor’s actions were at odds with the behavior of a responsible journalist.
The incident occurred on April 1, when Mor left his car in a Ramallah alley while covering a demonstration in the Kadura refugee camp. Upon returning to the car, he found it vandalized, and accused a group of border police officers standing nearby of causing the damage.
Mor’s allegations were published in the Hebrew daily Ma’ariv, together with a denial by the Israel Defense Force spokesman.
Ma’ariv quoted Mor as saying the marks on the car had been made by the troops’ boots. Mor later claimed he was misquoted.
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