CNN apologises to Rabbi Dee for saying his family was killed in a ‘shootout’

CNN’s international anchor Christiane Amanpour has apologised after saying that three members of a British-Israeli family were killed in a “shootout” in April, rather than in a “shooting”.

The well-respected British-born journalist, who was a UNESCO ambassador for freedom of expression, apologised to Rabbi Leo Dee, a former senior rabbi in Radlett, whose wife and two daughters were killed in the West Bank in early April.

After Dee threatened to sue CNN for around £1 billion, Amanpour apologised on-air, saying: “On April 10, I mentioned the murders of an Israeli family: Lucy, Maia, and Rina Dee, Rabbi Leo Dee’s wife and daughters.

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 “I erred when I mentioned that they were slain in a ‘shootout’ rather than a ‘shooting’. I have written to him to express our regret and let Rabbi Leo Dee know that we are sorry for any additional suffering we may have given him.”

Dee, who lives in the settlement of Efrat, earlier slammed Amanpour’s initial description as “the perfect example of ‘terror journalism’, where you have moral equivalence between the victim and the terrorist”.

He added: “This type of journalism perpetuates the conflict in the Middle East. The real cycle of violence is a comment like this followed by a terrorist atrocity and then more of the same.”

Amanpour, who was born in London, has worked at CNN for almost 40 years, winning numerous awards for her coverage and interviews of world leaders.