“Fake Facts” – Israel’s President Blasts CNN Blaming Israel for Death of Al Jazeera Journo

Israeli President Isaac Herzog blasted a CNN investigation that suggested Israel is to blame for the death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

Akleh was shot and killed on May 11th while covering clashes between the Israeli Defense Forces and Palestinian gunmen at the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.

Appearing at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Herzog said that the journalist’s death was “a sad event” and that the CNN report, which was published on Tuesday, consists of “fake facts.”

Herzog, a former leader of Israel’s Labor Party, said Israel had offered the Palestinians the chance to join its non-criminal probe into the shooting only to be rejected (Israel has said it won’t open a criminal investigation into Akleh’s death).

“One cannot substantiate any one of the scenarios without those facts and [Israel] was open and transparent and offered the United States to join this process of investigation because we pay a high importance to freedom of speech and the work of journalists and media channels and we respect them,” he said.

Herzog mentioned that in the past, there have been incidents where Israel was “blamed and the truth transpired later that there were a lot of fake facts.”

“So don’t base yourself on any fake facts. Study the facts,” he said. “Facts can be studied scientifically. Unfortunately, the Palestinians refuse to cooperate.”

The CNN report was based on eyewitness accounts, videos, and an audio forensic expert’s analysis, and a weapons expert who has been criticized for being anti-Israel.

“An investigation by CNN offers new evidence — including two videos of the scene of the shooting — that there was no active combat, nor any Palestinian militants, near Abu Akleh in the moments leading up to her death,” the report says.

“Videos obtained by CNN, corroborated by testimony from eight eyewitnesses, an audio forensic analyst, and an explosive weapons expert, suggest that Abu Akleh was shot dead in a targeted attack by Israeli forces,” CNN added.

The Palestinian Authority released its own report on Thursday concluding that forensic evidence indicates Abu Akleh was killed by a bullet fired by Israeli troops. “Palestinian Authority’s Akram Khatib, [said] forensic evidence indicated Abu Akleh was fatally shot while attempting to run away from sudden bursts of Israeli gunfire,” reported the Times of Israel on the Palestinian’s findings.

CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Watch above, via World Economic Forum.

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