One story. Three updates. Four headlines.
1:51 p.m.: The first AP report on Netanyahu’s speech. Note the bias of the headline—Netanyahu called for a Palestinian state, and the AP describes it as “limited.”
Netanyahu accepts limited Palestinian state
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Sunday called for creation of a limited Palestinian state for the first time, saying it would have to be disarmed.Netanyahu made the call during a major policy speech about his Mideast peacemaking intentions.
“In any peace agreement, the territory under Palestinian control must be disarmed, with solid security guarantees for Israel,” he said.
Next, the full story at 3:21 p.m.: The caveat is removed from the headline, and so is the word “state.” Note that this is obviously the headline writer, as the lead clearly denotes the call for a state—although the AP then applies the Palestinian spin that recognizing Israel as a Jewish state means giving up the return of Palestinian refugees. In point of fact, there was never going to be a mass influx of refugees, and everyone knows that, including the AP editor.
Netanyahu endorses Palestinian independence
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed an independent Palestinian state beside Israel for the first time on Sunday, dramatically reversing himself in the face of U.S. pressure but attaching conditions the Palestinians swiftly rejected.A week after President Barack Obama’s address to the Muslim world, Netanyahu said the Palestinian state would have to be unarmed and recognize Israel as the Jewish state – a condition amounting to Palestinian refugees giving up the goal of returning to Israel.
Here’s the second part of the lead from that update. Note the compliment, of sorts, to Netanyahu. Especially because it’s going to move from the fifth paragraph in the 3:21 story to the eighth, where it will drop out of your local newspaper’s “World” section. First draft:
Netanyahu, in an address seen as his reponse to Obama, refused to heed the U.S. call for an immediate freeze of construction on lands Palestinians claim for their future state. He also said the holy city of Jerusalem must remain under Israeli sovereignty.
Senior Palestinian officials Saeb Erekat said the plan “closed the door” to negotiations.
Still, it was a dramatic transformation for a man raised on a fiercely nationalistic ideology and who has spent a two-decade political career criticizing peace efforts.
Another huge, but subtle change from the 3:21 to the 6:26 update is the removal of the word “independent” from this graf:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed a Palestinian state beside Israel for the first time on Sunday, reversing himself under U.S. pressure but attaching conditions such as having no army that the Palestinians swiftly rejected.
I haven’t found any major differences in the latest update. But the evolution of an AP Israel story is always something that needs to be deconstructed.
As for the speech itself—you know, it almost doesn’t matter what Netanyahu said. The Palestinians reject everything but utter submission to their demands, and the Arab world backs them up on this. Watch for the Obama administration to do the same.