“The Israeli forces are happy to kill children,” is just one of the profoundly disturbing statements made by BBC News presenter Anjana Gadgil during an interview with former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett about the IDF’s recent counterterrorism raid in Jenin.
Gadgil’s anti-Israel bias was exposed in her first question to Bennett:
First of all, the Israeli military is calling this a military operation, but we know that young people are being killed — four of them under 18 — is that really what the military set out to do? To kill people between the ages of 16 and 18?
Of course, the malicious suggestion that the Israeli army “set out” to kill children is patently false, and Gadgil’s failure to tell viewers that every single one of the Palestinians who died in the raid was claimed by a terrorist organization is tantamount to journalistic malpractice.
While Bennett deftly handled the question, including explaining that at least 50 Israelis have been murdered in attacks perpetrated by terrorists from the West Bank city that has emerged as the epicenter of Palestinian terrorism, the fact remains that such an appalling question should never have been asked in the first place.
The interview then went from bad to worse as Gadgil doubled down on her initial accusation by promoting an outright modern-day blood libel:
Terrorists, but children. The Israeli forces are happy to kill children.”
Bennett swiftly countered the despicable comment and pointedly asked Gadgil to explain how she would personally define a young terrorist:
You know it’s quite remarkable that you’d say that. They’re killing us. Now if there’s a 17-year-old Palestinian that’s shooting at your family, Anjana, what are you calling him?”
HonestReporting has since submitted an official complaint to the BBC in which we asked the corporation to investigate and take appropriate action.
"Instead, Gadgil projects her own bias and maliciously assumes the emotions of Israeli soldiers while falsely charging them as child killers. This outrageous piece of interviewing deserves to be investigated and appropriate action taken."
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) July 5, 2023
On the whole, the BBC’s coverage of the Jenin raid has been seriously problematic. However, the appalling accusation leveled during the Naftali Bennett interview marks the corporation sinking to a horrifying new low.
We encourage our readers to submit their own complaints to the BBC via the corporation’s website.
What a despicable accusation, @bbc. No, Israel is not “happy to kill children.”
This isn't journalism, it's a blood libel. Thank you @naftalibennet for calling it out and opposing the moral equivalency between terrorists and those fighting them.
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) July 5, 2023
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