London’s Jewish Chronicle newspaper was rocked by a string of high-profile departures Sunday as scandal swirled around the newspaper’s association with a freelance writer alleged to have fabricated stories on the Gaza war, amid wider questions about the outlet’s ownership and direction.
The JC said Friday it was cutting ties with Elon Perry after doubts surfaced about his professed background and the veracity of a series of stories he published containing accounts of daring Israeli operations and claiming to offer an unparalleled inside view of intelligence material. He denies wrongdoing.
Perry, who was born Eli Yifrach according to an expose published on Israeli TV last week, told The Observer, the Guardian’s Sunday newspaper, that his firing was the product of a “witch-hunt… caused by jealousy from Israeli journalists and outlets who could not obtain the details that I managed to.”
He accused the JC of making a “huge mistake.”
On Sunday, David Baddiel, Jonathan Freedland, David Aaronovitch and Hadley Freeman, four of the paper’s most prominent columnists, announced on social media they would no longer write for the outlet, at one time considered among the world’s most influential Jewish news outfits.
“The latest scandal brings great disgrace on the paper — publishing fabricated stories and showing only the thinnest form of contrition — but it is only the latest,” Freedland wrote in an open letter to editor Jake Wallis Simons, saying the paper had become too partisan.
“The problem in this case is that there can be no real accountability because the JC is owned by a person or people who refuse to reveal themselves,” he added.
The letter was shared on X by Aaronovitch, who said he too had told Simons he could not continue at the paper.
Freeman wrote on X that “recent events have made it impossible for me to stay.”
A spokesperson for Baddiel told The Guardian that he “has no plans to write any more columns for the paper,” and declined further comment.
The British newspaper launched an investigation after publishing multiple articles by Perry claiming inside knowledge of Israeli intelligence, including one this month in which he alleged a document had been uncovered in the Gaza Strip proving that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was planning to smuggle himself and some of the remaining Israeli hostages kidnapped on October 7 out of Gaza via the Philadelphi Corridor and from there to Iran.
The Israel Defense Forces said it was unaware of any such document existing, and some speculated that the claim was part of a disinformation campaign, noting it dovetailed with recent talking points by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arguing against withdrawing troops from the strategic border belt as part of a hostage deal.
Perry has also faced questions about his biography, including his claims to have served as a commando soldier during Operation Entebbe and that he was a professor at Tel Aviv University for 15 years. An investigation by Channel 13’s Hatzinor news magazine found that both claims were false.
“While we understand he did serve in the Israel Defense Forces, we were not satisfied with some of his claims,” the JC said Friday, without further elaborating. “We have therefore removed his stories from our website and ended any association with Mr. Perry.”
Perry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Times of Israel. Perry wrote two blog posts on the Times of Israel’s blog platform in 2021. His blog has been taken down.
In a recording of a conversation with an Israeli journalist who investigated his claimed background played on Israel’s Channel 13 Sunday night, Perry could be heard wishing death upon the reporter.
“You are a monster, a maniac, a liar. I don’t understand who created you. I wish Hamas would kill you, you are unnecessary in Israeli society,” he said in the recording.
“I have no regrets,” he added. “You should be the one who is regretful.”
He contended that his firing was part of a “deal” he had reached with the JC. “They needed to write what they wrote to satisfy you and the others,” he said.
Simons, who has faced calls to step down since the scandal erupted, said in a statement posted on X late Sunday that the paper was implementing stiffer standards.
“I understand why some columnists have decided to step back from the paper. I am grateful for their contributions and hope that, in time, some of them will feel able to return,” he wrote. “I take full responsibility for the mistakes that have been made and I will take equal responsibility for the task of making sure nothing like this can happen again.”
The Jewish Chronicle’s initial announcement last week that it was investigating Perry came days after the IDF said it was launching an internal probe after documents recovered from Gaza were recently leaked to foreign press in an apparent attempt to influence public opinion on the hostage negotiations.
The JC has faced criticism in recent months over a lack of transparency regarding who owns the paper and guides its editorial policy. The outlet was rescued from going defunct in 2020 by a consortium led by Robbie Gibb, the BBC’s former head of political programming, but has not answered questions regarding who funded the acquisition.