Explanatory Passages Evidence Fair Reporting

"New Israeli Foreign Minister Questioned by the Police About His Business Dealings"; By Isabel Kershner; A14

Isabel Kershner weaves forth and back between two events in "New Israeli Foreign...":

1. A police interrogation of Avigdor Lieberman
2. A terrorist attack near Bat Ayin, a Jewish community on the Jordan's west bank

The attack's victim, a thirteen year old, is called a "teenager" rather than a boy, a word choice that may have been made to downplay the horror of the incident. 

To her credit, IK grants Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev ample space in the fourteenth paragraph to forcefully respond to the attack.  

However, Kershner does not interview Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of Fatah, despite the fact that Al Aksa Martyrs' Brigade, a Fatah terrorist faction, claimed responsibility for the murder. The omission is not surprising since NYT rarely puts Palestinian leaders on the spot. 

Unrelated to the two events at play are explanatory passages about Israel's position regarding a final agreement with the Palestinians.

The Israeli government will pursue a policy of "fewer Israeli concessions and more proof from the Palestinian side that it wants peace," reports IK. 

And, in reference to Bat Ayin, IK writes,

"Israel intends to keep the area under any future peace accord with the Palestinians, who demand the whole of the West Bank as part of an independent Palestinian state." 

 Both passages evidence fair reporting.