The New York Times has replaced its controversial Jerusalem bureau chief, Ethan Bronner.
Politico reported Tuesday that Bronner is returning to the U.S. to become the Times' legal affairs correspondent. Education editor Jodi Rudoren is replacing him in Israel. In a letter to the site, Bronner said he had made the decision to return.
The Jerusalem bureau chief is bound to attract controversy simply by virtue of the region the reporter is covering. But Bronner attracted another level of attention in 2010, when the website Electronic Intifada revealed that his son was a soldier in the Israeli Defense Army. The site, along with many others, dubbed this a flagrant conflict of interest for a journalist covering Israel and Palestine. Clark Hoyt, the then-public editor of the Times, called for Bronner to be reassigned, though he stressed that he thought he was a fair journalist.
The Times mounted a staunch defense of Bronner, and he was not reassigned. His son left the IDF in 2011.
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