By, Jennifer Lipman
1 min read
The Israeli ambassador to the UK has launched a blistering attack on the Guardian newspaper for its clear “affinity for Hamas” in its coverage of the leaked Palestine Papers.
Ron Prosor, writing on the Huffington Post website, accused the British newspaper of “out Hamasing-Hamas” with its criticism of the Palestinian Authority.
It is the first time the Israeli diplomat has openly condemned the Guardian for its reporting on the Middle East.
Mr Prosor declared: “Readers might struggle to notice a substantive difference between the paper's editorial line and the opinion piece by a Hamas spokesman splashed across its pages two days later.”
The Guardian, which published the documents along with Arabic news organisation Al-Jazeera, has accompanied a steady stream of news reports with a series of controversial comment pieces, blog posts and editorials. Many of these heavily condemned the Palestinian leadership and attacked Israel for refusing to accept a deal.
The paper's editorial even described the Palestinian negotiators as "craven", and said their willingness to make concessions in order to secure a Two State solution was a betrayal of the Palestinian people.
Mr Prosor, discussing the content of the Guardian’s coverage, said: “Never has a British broadsheet so openly served the agenda of Middle Eastern extremism.
“The self-appointed guardian of Palestinian truth has maximised its opportunity to pledge allegiance to the hard-line, national fantasies which have crippled the Palestinian cause for decades.”
He added that the Guardian’s coverage had been “an assault on the peace process”. He said: “PA negotiators already needed to sell concessions to the Palestinian street.
“We didn't realise they also needed to sell them to Fleet Street.”