We are about to pour hundreds of billions into a project fit for yesterday | The Jerusalem Post

Jpost · Aug 02, 2026 · 2048 words · By SHLOMO MAOZ

Government Inefficiency Technological Obsolescence National Security Urban Planning and AI

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What to know about Government Inefficiency

At the beginning of the 19th century, artificial shipping canals were the height of technology for transporting goods.

Claims checked 15

Techniques found 5

Topics 4

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center80%

Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

At the beginning of the 19th century, artificial shipping canals were the height of technology for transporting goods.

Why it matters

The enthusiasm of nations to transport and lower shipping costs – which weighed heavily on economic development – along with the success of canal digging in Britain between 1790 and 1810 alongside the Industrial Revolution, such as the digging of the…

Common ground

The Erie Canal in New York opened on October 26, 1825.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Appeal to Fear, Black-and-White Fallacy: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Government Inefficiency story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Cities grew along the canal, including Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany?
How does this story connect Government Inefficiency with Technological Obsolescence over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/opinion/article-904373

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 5 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

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Loaded Language 95% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

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Appeal to Fear 85% confidence

Building support by instilling anxiety or panic in the audience.

Why it matters: Recognizing appeal to fear helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

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Black-and-White Fallacy 75% confidence

Presenting only two options when more exist.

Why it matters: Recognizing black-and-white fallacy helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

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Repetition 90% confidence

Repeating a message until it is accepted as truth.

Why it matters: Recognizing repetition helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Oversimplification 80% confidence

Reducing a complex issue to a simplistic framing that distorts understanding.

Why it matters: Recognizing oversimplification helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 15 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 5

help Insufficient Evidence 3

check_circle Corroborated 3

verified Verified By Reference 2

info Single Source 1

cancel Disputed 1

verified

Claim 1: “Cities grew along the canal, including Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided evidence contains general lists of cities or unrelated information about New York cities, but does not explicitly link the growth of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany specifically to the Erie Canal in the provided snippets.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Golden Snowball Award is an annual award presented to the city in Upstate New York that receives the most snowfall in a season. The original award was the result of a friendly competition between …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Snowball_Award

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of buildings that are examples of the Art Deco architectural style in New York (state), United States.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Art_Deco_architecture_…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The New York Central Railroad (reporting mark NYC) was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New Yor…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Central_Railroad

+ 3 more evidence sources

schedule

Claim 2: “In February 2022, the government approved the Metro Law.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 3: “its cost, currently estimated at NIS 200 billion”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 4: “In 1955, the British government launched a giant modernization plan for the national rail network with a huge budget for that period of about £1.2 billion.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific budget of £1.2 billion and the 1955 launch date are mentioned in one web search result, but not corroborated by other independent sources in the provided set.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The British Isles have been continuously inhabited since the Neolithic. In AD 43 the Roman conquest of Britain began. The Roman departure between 383 and 410 was followed by Anglo-Saxon settlement beg…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_kingdom

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Both British Nationals (Overseas) and British citizens are British nationals and Commonwealth citizens according to the British Nationality Law, which enables them to various rights in the United King…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_people

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Discover the latest food, drink and entertainment options in our lounges and on board. We're always here to help. Our friendly Customer Services team are on hand to answer all of your queries.
https://www.britishairways.com/travel/home/public/en_us/

help

Claim 5: “During the 1970s and 1980s, the government broadcasting authority NHK, together with the Japanese Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, invested billions of dollars in developing the Hi-Vision (MUSE) broadcast standard”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found for this claim in the provided search results.

schedule

Claim 6: “the monopolistic Bezeq at the time, invested huge sums in "squeezing" a bit more speed from old copper infrastructure.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 7: “the state preferred to promote old solutions of the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) type - articulated buses on dedicated lanes, such as the Metronit in Haifa.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

check_circle

Claim 8: “In the late 1970s, the French government telecommunications company, France Télécom, launched Minitel”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources (Wikipedia, IEEE Spectrum) confirm that Minitel was developed/launched in the late 1970s by the French government/telecoms.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — In the late 1970s, France lagged noticeably behind in the telephone network industry. Fewer than seven million telephone lines served a population of 47 million people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minitel

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — It was the late 1970s.Later, the government began to require that people use Minitel for certain administrative tasks such as university registration. These modest public services stimulated adoption …
https://spectrum.ieee.org/minitel-the-online-world-france-bu…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — France is switching off its groundbreaking Minitel service which brought online banking, travel reservations, and porn to millions of users in the 1980s.
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18610692

cancel

Claim 9: “The work lasted eight years, during which New York Governor DeWitt Clinton was mocked due to the project's engineering complexity.”

DISPUTED

One source states the canal took seven years to build, while the claim states eight years. While DeWitt Clinton's involvement is verified, the specific duration of construction is contradicted by the evidence provided.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769 – February 11, 1828) was an American politician and naturalist. He served as a United States senator, as the mayor of New York City, and as the sixth governor of New York…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeWitt_Clinton

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The DeWitt Clinton of the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad (M&H) was an American steam locomotive and the first working steam locomotive built for service in New York state. The locomotive was built in 1831…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeWitt_Clinton_(locomotive)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erie_Canal

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 10: “Freight prices along the line dropped by at least 90%, and shipping took just a few days compared to two weeks previously.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

While evidence confirms the canal transformed the economy, no specific data regarding a '90% drop in freight prices' or the specific 'two weeks to a few days' shipping time reduction was found in the provided evidence.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Ohio and Erie Canal was a canal constructed during the 1820s and early 1830s in Ohio. It connected Akron with the Cuyahoga River near its outlet on Lake Erie in Cleveland, and a few years later, w…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_and_Erie_Canal

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Wabash and Erie Canal was a shipping canal that linked the Great Lakes to the Ohio River via an artificial waterway. The canal provided traders with access from the Great Lakes all the way to the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabash_and_Erie_Canal

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 11: “The 584-kilometer artificial waterway in New York State connected for the first time the Great Lakes in northwestern New York to the US via the Hudson River.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the length as 363 miles (584 km) and the connection between the Great Lakes (Lake Erie) and the Hudson River.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). Th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The history of turnpikes and canals in the United States began with work attempted and accomplished in the Thirteen Colonies, predicated on European technology. After gaining independence, the United …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_turnpikes_and_canal…

+ 3 more evidence sources

schedule

Claim 12: “a metro system that was rightly launched in London in 1863.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

check_circle

Claim 13: “The Erie Canal in New York opened on October 26, 1825.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web sources (Almanac.com, Roc-Ham.net) and Wikipedia confirm the opening date of October 26, 1825.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Miami and Erie Canal was a 274-mile (441 km) canal that ran from Cincinnati to Toledo, Ohio, creating a water route between the Ohio River and Lake Erie. Construction on the canal began in 1825 an…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_and_Erie_Canal

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+ 3 more evidence sources

help

Claim 14: “the communist government during the 1980s invested critical national resources in an attempt to complete a nationwide rollout of analog telephone exchanges based on Crossbar mechanical switches”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found for this claim in the provided search results.

help

Claim 15: “As part of the plan, the state ordered hundreds of new steam locomotives”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

The claim states the plan ordered hundreds of new steam locomotives. However, the Grokipedia evidence explicitly states the 1955 Modernisation Plan outlined the 'replacement of nearly 17,000 steam locomotives with diesel and electric traction', indicating a move away from steam, not an order for more of them.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — In 1955, the British government launched a giant modernization plan for the national rail network with a huge budget for that period of about £1.2 billion.The result: The new steam locomotives built a…
https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/opinion/articl…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The retirement of steam locomotives in the United Kingdom was accelerated by the 1955 Modernisation Plan, which outlined the replacement of nearly 17,000 steam locomotives with diesel and electric tra…
https://grokipedia.com/page/Retirement_of_steam_locomotives_…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Fire and Steam: a New History of Railways in Britain, by Christian Wolmar. (Atlantic, £19.99). This magnificent book tells the tale of the railways from George Stephenson to privatisation in 300 pages…
https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/52256/a-new-age-o…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.