Pretending Tel Aviv Is the Capital of Israel

Some, especially in the mainstream media, pretend that not Jerusalem but Tel Aviv serves as the capital of Israel. (Tel Aviv hosts the Ministry of Defense but not much else of the central government.) The weblog entry documents some of those delusions, which are appearing more often, in reverse chronological order:

Agence France Press: An article on Jan. 23, "Israel PM urges European 'fairness' in Mideast," states that four European Union states lodged "a formal protest against Tel Aviv's drive to expand settlements on the West Bank." (January 26, 2014)

The New York Times: A front-page headline today over a story by Mark Landler and Jodi Rudoren uses "Tel Aviv" as a synonym for Israel's capital: "Mideast Chaos Grows as U.S. Focuses on Israel—Kerry's Tel Aviv Push Raises Questions About Priorities." (July 2, 2013)

CTV, a Canadian television station: Reported on Jan. 8 that "Tel Aviv is dealing with a heavy rain situation. The storms flooded roads and brought chaos to the Israeli capital." (January 17, 2013)

British Broadcasting Corporation: A BBC tweet today announced that "#Gaza militants launch missiles at Tel Aviv in 1^st rocket attack on Israeli capital since 1991 Gulf War bbc.in/QJkWK9" (November 15, 2012)

White House: The White House press secretary, Jay Carney, did not say that Tel Aviv was the capital. But he also did not say it was not in this semi-comical exchange with reporters:

White House press secretary Jay Carney fields a tough question about the capital of Israel.

1^st Reporter: What city does this Administration consider to be the capital of Israel? Jerusalem or Tel Aviv?

Carney: Um … I haven't had that question in a while. Our position has not changed. Can we, uh …

1^st Reporter: What is the capital?

Carney: You know our position.

1^st Reporter: I don't.

2^nd Reporter: No, no. She doesn't know, that's why she asked.

Carney: She does know.

1^st Reporter: I don't.

2^nd Reporter: She does not know. She just said that she does not know. I don't know.

Carney: We have long, lets not call on …

2^nd Reporter: Tel Aviv or Jerusalem?

Carney: You know the answer to that.

2^nd Reporter: I don't know the answer. We don't know the answer. Could you just give us an answer? What do you recognize? What does the administration recognize?

Carney: Our position has not changed.

2^nd Reporter: What position?

Carney ignored him and moved on to another question. (July 26, 2012)

The Guardian newspaper: Its style sheet actually states that "Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel; Tel Aviv is." (April 25, 2012)

Comments: (1) This absurdity parallels a tendency lately to pretend there's a country called Palestine.(2) For an amusing skit on this topic, see Honest Reporting's YouTube mock-umentary, "Searching for Israel's Capital."

Feb. 10, 2014 update: Les Kinsolving has named Connie Lawn as the "1st reporter" above and identified himself as the "2nd reporter."

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