Orthodox Jews in uproar over news report

JERUSALEM, March 8 (JTA) — Orthodox Jews have been in an uproar over what they charge was a fabricated story in a major Israeli newspaper. Now, another Israeli newspaper’s investigation of the incident appears to lend credence to that charge. The mass-circulation Yediot Achronot reported last month that a religious court in Bnei Brak recently forced a man to divorce his wife because she was raped. A Bnei Brak rabbi last week denounced the story as a hoax. A Ha’aretz reporter, attempting to verify the Yediot report, said the story was untrue. The 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 original story also drew protests from Israeli women’s groups after it was published A group called Manof the Center for Jewish Information has filed a complaint with a journalists association against the reporter who wrote the original story, saying he acted on rumors that were not thoroughly checked. Officials at Yediot said in response that the story was based on sources who stood by their word.