The BBC has apologized after making a clear request to interview Israeli military personnel who are “critical of Netanyahu” and the Israeli ground offensive against the Hamas terror group in Gaza. The incident occurred when Orly Goldschmidt, spokeswoman for the Israeli Embassy in the UK, had shared a screenshot of a message she received from the British corporation and wrote, “Today, my team received this remarkable message from a BBC producer. They don’t want to interview someone knowledgeable, nor someone relevant, just someone who fits the predetermined narrative. There is nothing balanced or impartial about this.” The message, which was sent via WhatsApp, stated that the BBC presenter was seeking to interview an “Israeli military voice” critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the ground offensive. The message also provided examples of the types of criticism they were looking for, such as “concern about remaining hostages, stretching IDF capacity, destruction of Gaza or any other reason.” The screenshot blurred the names of the BBC producer, presenter, and the intended recipient. Jonathan Conricus, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former spokesperson for the IDF, shared Goldschmidt’s post and wrote, “This explains why the BBC and several other major networks won’t have me on anymore. I’m not willing to trash Israeli decisions or do my dirty laundry to feed their hatred of Israel.” Eylon Levy , former spokesman for the State of Israel, responded to the exchange with one word, “Wow.” The BBC later issued an “unreserved apology” to the Israeli Embassy in London over the bizarre request, saying it was a “serious mistake” that “clearly falls well below our standards.” This incident comes as the BBC has repeatedly been criticized for the blatant anti-Israel bias in its reporting. This criticism has increased since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and the war in Gaza which followed. In November of 2023, the corporation published an apology after falsely claiming that IDF troops were targeting medical teams in battles in and around the Shifa Hospital in Gaza. Before that, the BBC falsely accused Israel of being responsible for an explosion at a hospital in Gaza , which the IDF proved was caused by an Islamic Jihad rocket. The network later acknowledged that “it was false to speculate” on the explosion. In September, a report found that the BBC violated its own editorial guidelines more than 1,500 times during the first four months of the war between Israel and Hamas, and noted “deeply worrying pattern of bias" against the Jewish state during that period. More recently, the BBC was criticized for using the son of a senior Hamas official as a narrator in its documentary “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone.” Related articles: BBC accused of 'puff piece propaganda' for Hamas hostage holders BBC sorry for misusing Israeli city in 'settlements' report The myth of Masafer Yatta UK counter-terror police probe BBC doc on Hamas official’s son The BBC has acknowledged that there were “serious flaws” in the program. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer later said he is "concerned" by the documentary. Last week, the British corporation issued an apology after using footage of the Israeli city of Tiberias - located well within Israel's internationally recognized borders - while discussing "settlements" in the Golan Heights.
