FT quietly corrects inflated claim on EU funding cuts to Israel

The Financial Times has amended an article after wrongly reporting that the European Commission planned to suspend €14bn worth of funding for projects in Israel. The actual figure, confirmed by the Commission, was €14mn.

The original piece, published on 11 September, stated that billions of euros in support would be frozen. In fact, the Commission announced the suspension of €14mn for “institutional co-operation projects” alongside a pause on a smaller tranche of regional funding.

By suggesting that Brussels had pulled back funding on such a vast scale, the initial report conveyed a far more sweeping rebuke of Israel than was accurate. Critics note that such misrepresentation, even if corrected later, risks reinforcing a narrative of punitive measures that aligns closely with political campaigns against Israel rather than with the facts.

The FT has since added a correction at the foot of the article: “This article has been amended to correct the amount of funding to Israeli projects that the European Commission has put on hold.”

Errors of this nature matter. Coverage of EU-Israel relations is highly sensitive, and inflating the figure ten-thousand-fold not only distorts public understanding but also risks feeding into broader hostility against Israel in international debate. For a paper of record, accuracy in such areas is not optional.