Pick up a copy of the New York Times or the Washington Post any day of the week when they run an article on Israel and you're apt to find prominent quotes from reporters and columnists of Haaretz, a far-left newspaper with limited circulation that is treated as gospel by Western reporters based in Jerusalem.The problem with this excessive reliance on Haaretz is two-fold.  It ignores other Israeli media that might give American readers a somewhat better insight into mainstream Israeli views and opinions.  It also runs the risk that Western reporters will pass on Haaretz content that's made up of whole cloth. where spin turns into fiction.The latter aspect of Haaretz journalism was pointed up by its latest exclusive -- an article claiming that the White House and the State Department are "furious" at Defense Minister Ehud Barak for allegedly misleading them into assuming that, as Israel's de facto foreign minister to Washington, he could "deliver"...(Read Full Post)