WSJ reporters clashed over the 'disputed' report Iran was involved in Hamas attack
Semafor is reporting that the Wall Street Journal experienced an internal debate over a story that is being "disputed" by intelligence and national security experts.
The Journal report claimed that Iran was part of the Hamas attack on Israel, which is now leading to questions about the paper's interest in blowing the trumpet for a war with Iran.
"The article cited senior members of Hamas and Iran-backed military group Hezbollah, as well as an adviser to Syria and a European official, who told the paper that Iranian security officials helped plan and ultimately greenlit the attack on Israel," Semafor explained.
They explained that the stakes are high in this situation, and it could trigger a much larger war. A fight with Iran, however, is what conservatives, namely Donald Trump, have wanted for years.
The Intercept's Ken Klippenstein wrote of the Journal report relating it to the bogus reports claiming Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The story in that case led to a decade-long war, cost thousands of lives, and turned out to be based on a fake news story. Now there are questions being asked about The Journal's interest in a war with Iran.
“I don’t understand why the Wall Street Journal’s nondescript ‘Hamas and Hezbollah’ sources are more trustworthy than the U.S. government’s sources, who receive extraordinary scrutiny,” former CIA branch chief J.D. Maddox told Klippenstein.
"Three people with knowledge of the situation told Semafor that before the story was published, veteran staffers on the national security team at the paper raised concerns about the story, which was written by three of the paper’s correspondents based in the Middle East," said the story. "Reporters from the Washington, D.C. bureau said that they could not directly confirm the explosive string of allegations shared by their colleagues abroad, and sought more time before publication."
The Washington reporters raced through contacts at the White House and elsewhere for confirmation but it appears they were never able to find any. No bylines from the D.C. bureau appeared in the piece.
“We stand by our reporting,” a spokesperson for the paper said last week.
It wouldn't be the first time The Journal was accused of getting something wrong. The American Hospital Association hit the paper for being wrong on pediatric readiness. Facebook's parent Meta called a Journal report "just plain false." Others followed suit. A CEO knocked the Journal for the "fake news" they accused the New York Times of. There are even disputes about a report about storage facilities during the pandemic.
The paper has never been accused of falsely reporting something to encourage a war.
"U.S., Israeli, and Iranian officials, as well as Hamas leaders, all rejected the Journal’s claims," said Semafor. "And the Journal is currently the only major news organization to report that last week’s attack had a direct link to Iran, though The New York Times published a story on Friday partially confirming the details of the Journal’s report. The Times reported that officials from Iran helped plan the attack, but the U.S. and its allies have downplayed (though not debunked) the suggestion that the Iranian government was deeply involved.
"Crucially, U.S. officials told the Times and other outlets that intelligence suggests key Iranian leaders were surprised by the Hamas attack," the report continued. "Other outlets like CNN and the Washington Post have not confirmed any link, though Israeli and U.S. government officials have not ruled out that possibility."