Trump’s team to PA:

‘There is no Palestine, Jerusalem is not your capital’

One can’t but help loving this man’s style of built-in deniability. Take the first lines of this widely-dispersed media report this morning: “Trump’s team is reportedly in contact with the Palestinians but has set a new tone regarding negotiations with Israel…”

As a news-person, the only ‘attributable’ statements he ever makes are on twitter – and yesterday just one of those which caused lawmakers’ phones to ring off their hooks and it stopped Congress in its tracks.

But even this is sketchy as an ‘attributable’ source as it could have been sent by the same team but on his account.

This is a great story – the problem to newsmen, and to informed lawmakers and the public of the world, is that it is not attributable.

Consider if you will the remainder of the story which is on a known good reporting website World Israel News. What follows is reported verbatim, with only the cold and/or italic type added to make the point of vagueness which would not usually stand up to journalistic scrutiny:

President-elect Donald Trump’s transitional team has recently been in contact with the Palestinians on how to proceed with diplomatic negotiations.

Israel Radio, in a report on Tuesday, quoted sources within Trump’s team and among Palestinian Authority officials who affirmed that the contacts were taking place.

In the report, an unnamed “senior official” working for Trump is said to have asked a senior Palestinian official why they would object to moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to western Jerusalem.

The official replied that there should be a parallel move, that Washington should establish a US embassy for ‘Palestine’ in eastern Jerusalem and one for Israel in the west side of the city.

The Palestinians envision the eastern side of Israel’s capital as its own. Moving the embassy to Jerusalem would be the final death blow to the failed peace negotiations, the Palestinians have threatened.

The Trump official reported(ly sic!) replied that “there is no Palestine, and Jerusalem is not your capital. If you stop the incitement to terror, put in place full economic transparency, stop acting unilaterally at UN bodies and accept a US embassy in west Jerusalem, we (the US) would consider a US diplomatic mission in Ramallah and call upon the Israelis to enter into serious negotiations with you on a long-term relationship.”

The Palestinian official then demanded that Israel stop construction in Judea and Samaria, as well as in eastern Jerusalem, adding that negotiations for a two-state solution based on the pre-1967 borders should promptly commence.

According to sources from both sides, the two senior officials agreed to stay in touch, while no final commitments were made.

By: World Israel News Staff

Now, let’s be clear – as a committed Zionist I am personally thrilled to hear this ‘news’.

However, as a professional journalist, it sends chills down my spine. Here’s why:

1. No single reporter was prepared to put their name to this story;
2. No single source, from either the Trump or opposing side is named;
3. The assumption is that this story came from a single source in the Trump camp whom the author, and his/her editor, found credible and trustworthy enough to publish a story (with minor qualifications as indicated), as a factual account;
4. This would not be an acceptable journalistic practice from any credible media house in any media format;
5. It is more akin to what is commonly known as ‘fake news’ which would likely be posted by a citizen journo on social media; and
6. Let’s not forget this is a man who can start a World War or bring congressmen to their knees – not a regional governor in a small Laotian province.

And yet, The Donald is able to have the world’s media accept all of this and publish such a story. Clearly, if there was no basis in fact the so-called, nameless, faceless ‘Trump-team’ would very quickly distance itself from the story.

Or the President-elect would tweet something.

This is a whole new style of communication. It beggars belief that editors accept or allow such loose ends when reporting facts. But, put plainly, it is the only channel of communication that is open. And may remain so…

I know of no other person in the history of news media whose messages would be accepted and published as facts in this way.