My response to the Times of Israel/Zman Yisrael’s libelous claim against me

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On November 17, the websites Times of Israel and Zman Israel published an article in Hebrew and English by reporter Tal Schneider where among many other mistatements of facts and outright falsehoods, she libeled me.

Last night I sent the following letter to David Horovitz, editor of the Times of Israel and Zman Israel websites. I have yet to hear from him. If the websites do not remove the libelous articles, reprimand Schneider for publishing them and issue a public apology for besmirching my professionalism and good name, I will sue both the publications and Schneider for libel.

To:         David Horovitz, Editor Times of Israel/Zman Yisrael

From:    Caroline Glick, Columnist Israel Hayom, Newsweek

Date:     November 20, 2021

Subject:              Tal Schneider’s false, libelous article from November 17, 2021

Dear David,

It was brought to my attention that your reporter Tal Schneider published a false, libelous claim against me in an article published in the Times of Israel and Zman Yisrael in Hebrew on November 17, (links: https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-10-years-us-publication-walks-back-claim-that-netanyahu-has-genius-iq/, https://www.zman.co.il/live/268339/). In the articles, Schneider falsely portrays an editor’s note from Insider website, and libels me.

The editor’s note misdescribed by Schneider was attached to a 2011 article from the website.

The 2011 article listed 18 luminaries with allegedly high IQs and listed their alleged IQs. The article claimed, for example, that actress Sharon Stone “is alleged to have an IQ of 154” and that politician John H. Sununu “is alleged to have an IQ of 180.” The eighth of the 18 luminaries identified is Benjamin Netanyahu, who, according to the story “is alleged to have an IQ of 180.”

The editor’s note recently appended to the 2011 article does not address the accuracy of the allegations in the original. The editor’s note does not claim to have examined any of the allegations made in the 2011 article, nor to have disproved or repudiated any of them. It simply states that the publishing IQ rankings, and the sourcing and methodology of such stories, is no longer editorial policy.

In Schneider’s fanciful retelling of this story, headlined “After 10 years, US publication walks back claim that Netanyahu has genius IQ,” Schneider wrote “ten years after the Business Insider magazine has published a story claiming that Benjamin Netanyahu has an IQ of 180, the news site published an editor’s note recanting the claims in the article.” In reality, the editorial note did not mention Netanyahu. And, as noted, the editorial note did not walk back any of the allegations of the original story, including allegations about Netanyahu’s IQ.

This brings us to Schneider’s libelous claim against me. The 2011 article in question never alleged that I alleged that Netanyahu has an IQ of 180. And indeed, I never wrote that Netanyahu’s IQ is 180. Moreover, the Insider article from 2011 never mentioned my name at all. The article simply linked to an article on Townhall magazine that I authored. The linked article, which I authored, also never mentioned Netanyahu’s IQ. The townhall article had nothing whatsoever to do with the content of the Insider article and it is not at all clear why it was linked. My column was a critical analysis of Netanyahu’s diplomatic policy.

Despite this, Schneider wrote in English (and with slight variations in Hebrew), “The original source [of the claim that Netanyahu’s IQ is allegedly 180] is believed to be a now-deleted article in The New Statesman that cited a claim by right-wing columnist Caroline Glick.”

The 2011 article linked to a New Statesman article listing Netanyahu “as number 11 on The World’s 50 Most Influential Figures 2010.” The New Statesman did not cite or mention me, nor did it mention Netanyahu’s alleged IQ. From Schneider’s false claim, it is apparent that Schneider never bothered to look for the New Statesman article in question. I found the deleted New Statesman article in an internet archive after a five-minute search.

To be clear: I never tested Netanyahu’s IQ and never wrote that Netanyahu has an IQ of 180. Neither the 2011 article, nor any of the “sources” cited by the 2011 article alleged that I tested Netanyahu’s IQ or that I alleged that Netanyahu has an IQ of 180. I am not the source of the claim that Netanyahu has an IQ of 180 for the very simple reason that I cannot be the source of a claim I never made. The Insider article does not claim that I am the source of the claim that Netanyahu has an IQ of 180, and none of the articles linked by the Insider claims that I am the source of the claim that Netanyahu has an IQ of 180.

In other words, Schneider misrepresented completely the Insider’s editor’s note. She completely misrepresented the New Statesman article, which she apparently didn’t even read. And she falsely accused me of being the source of a News Statesman’s article that never mentioned Netanyahu’s IQ in an article I wrote where I never mentioned Netanyahu’s IQ. She tied it all together in a complete misrepresentation of the Insider’s editor’s note which did not retract the article that mentioned Netanyahu’s alleged IQ, and never claimed I was the source—original or otherwise—of the allegation.

Schneider’s entire story was drivel and a textbook example of journalistic malpractice.

Since Times of Israel and Zman Yisrael published Schneider’s phony and slanderous story, I have seen numerous comments on social media platforms citing and repeating Schneider’s lies, accusing me of bad reporting for allegedly claiming that Netanyahu has a 180 IQ. All these attacks on me and my professional integrity are the direct result of the falsehoods published on your news portals in Schneider’s articles.

I demand that the stories be removed from both websites immediately. I further demand that Schneider be reprimanded publicly for her false report. Finally, I demand that both websites issue an apology to me for besmirching my good name and for claiming that I am the “source” of statements that I never made.

Looking forward to your immediate action to remedy this unacceptable state of affairs.

Yours sincerely,

Caroline Glick

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