The issue of assigning Ethan Bronner of The New York Times to cover Israel while his son is in the Israel military has been raised again as a former Times scribe says that conflict sparked her to leave the paper.

“During a June 23 panel discussion at the Washington, D.C.-based Palestine Center, former New York Times reporter Taghreed El-Khodary said that she had to quit being a correspondent in the Gaza Strip after it was confirmed that Times' Jerusalem bureau chief Ethan Bronner's son joined the Israeli Defense Forces," according to Mondoweiss.net. “In response to a question about Bronner from Jared Malsin of the Palestine Note, El-Khodary said she had to leave the Times because she feared losing her sources and her life after the revelation about Bronner's son."

“I have succeeded to be considered a very critical journalist on the ground, and I don't want to lose that. If Ethan's son joined the Israeli army, OK it's his issue. If The New York Times decided to keep him there, ok, they took a decision. But I took a decision too. I mean, you're not going to report this. It's fine, but it's not a new story, it's old now,” she is quoted as saying. “And I decided, because I don't want to lose my sources, and I don't want to lose my life, and I don't want him to lose his life, so it's as simple as that. So, I came out with that decision because it's important to keep my sources. It's a challenge, and I don't want to lose it. I don't want to be tainted like 'the one who writes for someone that has a son in the army' - I don't want, I don't need that. Already there are many challenges around you and you don't want to add another one. It's not worth it.”

The Bronner assignment earlier raised concern with former Times Public Editor Clark Hoyt, who wrote that it sparked a conflict. That concern, however, did not prompt Executive Editor Bill Keller to reassign Bronner.