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NYT Falsely Claims Embassy Move Caused 'Unrest Across the Middle East'

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. president Donald Trump, and U.A.E. foreign minister Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan signing the Abraham Accords / Getty Images
January 14, 2021

The New York Times falsely claimed in a Tuesday piece on the death of Sheldon Adelson that the United States's decision to move its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem "led to unrest across the Middle East."

The piece by Jeremy Peters and Shane Goldmacher argues that the recently deceased Jewish billionaire's push for moving the embassy had disastrous consequences. "The Adelsons were among those who helped persuade Mr. Trump to lean into a hard-line pro-Israel stance, which led to his decision in 2017 to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv," the article reads. The authors then contend that the move "incensed Palestinians and led to unrest across the Middle East after it was announced."

The article's authors do not provide any examples to support the claim that unrest abounded after the embassy relocation. Though many in the foreign-policy establishment said the decision would cause mass turmoil, their predictions of doom never materialized. On the contrary, the Trump administration went on to broker historic peace deals between Israel and several of its Arab neighbors.

The New York Times did not respond to a request for comment.