UK Media Watch prompts Guardian correction over ‘Israeli think tank’ claim

The Guardian's claim regarding the putative position of "Israeli" thinktanks on the Saudi-UAE isolation of Qatar not only comes completely out of nowhere, and is seemingly irrelevant, but is also erroneous.  The link embedded in the claim takes you to an article in Middle East Eye, which clearly identifies the think tank as Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a thinktank based in Washington, D.C., not Israel. We contacted Guardian editors, who upheld our complaint and revised the passage accordingly.
A June 7th Guardian editorial, The Guardian view on Trump’s Middle East: Unsafe, on the US President’s role in the decision by Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates to cut off ties with Qatar over the regime’s support for terror, including the following paragraph:

 

The Saudis and the UAE loathe Doha’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood, viewed as a mortal threat by Arab regimes. Qatar also hosts Hamas and the Taliban, although this is with the tacit approval of the US, which wants such groups isolated but around to talk to. Such is the anger that deep enmity has been put aside – recent leaks suggest pro-Israeli thinktanks back the Saudi-UAE attempt to cut off Qatar. Such is the anger that deep emnity has been put aside – recent leaks suggest Israeli thinktanks back the Saudi-UAE attempt to cut off Qatar.

The Guardian’s claim regarding the putative position of “Israeli” thinktanks on the Saudi-UAE isolation of Qatar not only comes completely out of nowhere, and is seemingly irrelevant, but is also erroneous.  The link embedded in the claim takes you to an article in Middle East Eye, which clearly identifies the think tank as Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a thinktank based in Washington, DC, not Israel. 

We contacted Guardian editors, who upheld our complaint and revised the passage accordingly. They also added the following addendum.

 

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