WILL WSJ/FOX BECOME ANTI-ISRAEL?

Murdoch, Son Differ Sharply Over Israel (NY Sun)
The pro-Israel outlook of the Wall Street Journal and many News Corp. outlets could waver if one of Rupert Murdoch's sons, James Murdoch, takes the helm of the publishing and broadcasting company, a new book suggests.

The just-published diaries of a communications director for Prime Minister Blair, Alastair Campbell, indicate that James Murdoch launched into a foul-mouthed tirade that suggested that the behavior of Palestinian Arabs was justified by their poor treatment by Israelis. The outburst occurred at a private dinner with his father, his brother, Lachlan, Mr. Blair, and others at no. 10 Downing St. in January 2002.

The elder "Murdoch was at one point putting the traditional very right-wing view on Israel and the Middle East peace process and James said that he was ‘talking f— nonsense.' [Rupert] Murdoch said he didn't see what the Palestinians' problem was and James said that it was that they were kicked out of their f— homes and had nowhere to f— live," Mr. Campbell recorded, adding that the News Corp. chairman was "very pro-Israel, very pro-Reagan."

The prime minister's aide said James Murdoch's outburst drew a rebuke from his father, who said "he didn't think he should talk like that in the Prime Minister's house."

"James got very apologetic with [Mr. Blair], who said not to worry, I hear far worse all the time," Mr. Campbell wrote.

James Murdoch, who heads News Corp.'s BSkyB satellite broadcasting division, has been intimately involved in the firm's $5 billion bid to take over Dow Jones, which publishes the Journal. The elder Murdoch brought James to a critical meeting last month in Manhattan at which the pair sought to win over members of the Bancroft family, which controls Dow Jones.

The takeover talks have been difficult in part because members of the Bancroft family have demanded assurances that there would be no interference with editorial practices at the Journal.
It is widely assumed in financial and publishing circles that James Murdoch would have ultimate responsibility for overseeing operations at the Journal if the takeover bid is successful. James Murdoch, 35, is also seen as the most likely heir to chairmanship of News Corp. when his father, 76, retires.

Advocates for Israel expressed distress yesterday at the report of James Murodch's stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "Certainly, it's troubling," a spokesman for the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, Alexander Safian, said. "It's a little upsetting to hear that perhaps a son who might eventually have a lot of power is not favorably inclined towards Israel."