Naftali Bennett in interview with BBC
(Video: BBC)
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett accused on Sunday the UK public broadcast network the BBC of bias in its coverage of Israel’s war against Hamas and of "lacking moral clarity." Shortly after, the interview with him was cut off.
More stories:
During the interview, Bennett said on a program hosted by Laura Kuenssberg: "I understand the BBC has taken a side on the Gazans because all your questions are on the Gazan side.”
The host, Victoria Derbyshire, interrupted him and said: "That's not true," before Bennett continued: “From the very beginning of this interview you’re only asking me about them, but it seems you care little about our side. You keep on caring on one side but that is the BBC way.”
“If you think there’s a balance between two equal sides then you are lacking moral clarity, and the BBC, I have to say, is lacking moral clarity. What you did last week, shame on you,” he added.
Derbyshire protested, saying, "Before we spoke to you Mr. Bennett I spoke to a veteran Palestinian politician and I asked her about the massacre of Israeli citizens in southern Israel,” Bennet began answering when the connection with him was cut off.
“Apologies, I do apologize I’m not sure why the signal cut out in the end,” she said following the disconnection. According to the Daily Mail, the BBC later stated that the reason for the error was a technical malfunction.
Prior to that, Derbyshire quoted an article from the Geneva Convention, noting that in war there is a need to separate between civilians and combatants and minimize harm to civilians. "That's exactly what we're doing, that’s why we're allowing civilians to evacuate,” Bennett said.
"It's not exactly what you're doing," Derbyshire replied, after which Bennett said: "Hamas entered roughly 30 communities; they butchered babies, they burned them alive, they raped young girls. This is what we're dealing with. And we will defend ourselves."
Bennett also discussed the failed Islamic Jihad rocket launch that fell near a hospital in Gaza and resulted in hundreds of casualties - and the initial BBC claim that it was caused by an Israeli airstrike. "The BBC said it was Israel, but it wasn't Israel," the former prime minister clarified.
The BBC later admitted to an error in their coverage, after widespread protests against the network took place in the UK. On Saturday, the UK network said it would no longer refer to Hamas as “militants,” but instead as “a proscribed terrorist organization by the UK government and others, or simply as Hamas,"