TWO senior journalists on Israel's Channel One television are to be removed from their posts and two others reprimanded for "intentionally manipulating images and deforming reality," following allegations that they had presented Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu as a racist as he listened to a crowd shouting "death to Arabs." The TV report showed Netanyahu and Jerusalem's mayor Ehud Olmert on the balcony of the city hall, smiling as a huge crowd of soccer fans in the square below celebrated the victory of the Jerusalem Betar team in the national league championship by shouting "death to Arabs", AP reported. The director general of the Israeli Broadcasting Authority, Uri Porat, who investigated the matter, said the journalists were guilty of "tendentious" editing of the newsreel to mislead viewers. Arieh Avneri, chairman of the Israel Journalists Union, however, said the Union's investigation found no slanted editing between the raw and final tapes and accused the government of trying to intimidate journalists.
