The BBC has been accused of being “institutionally hostile to Israel” in its Middle East coverage in the aftermath of a bombshell new report.
The report, compiled by the broadcaster’s own former director of television Danny Cohen, lays a number of accusations at the BBC’s door – and has been backed by some of Britain’s foremost Jewish organisations.
Though the broadcaster insists it has “focused on reporting the conflict impartially”, Cohen’s paper alleges that the BBC, in its reporting on the Israel-Gaza war in the wake of the October 7 massacre, makes “false and damaging claims about Israel’s conduct of this war” and producing both “misleading broadcasts and social media output”.
It uses research from the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (Camera), a group founded in 1982 to challenge “general anti-Israel bias” in parts of the US media.
Cohen’s paper alleges that the BBC makes “false and damaging claims about Israel’s conduct of this war”
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The report does acknowledge the BBC had owned up to some “isolated mistakes” in its coverage, but notes that it “catalogues many of those ‘isolated mistakes’ in one place for the first time.”
In one case, Cohen’s paper lays into the BBC for using the term “revenge attacks” when covering Israel’s on-the-day response to October 7 – he argues that this portrayed Israel as a “vengeful aggressor”.
“Whenever the corporation is faced with the choice of whose account or narrative to believe,” the report says, “it seldom points in Israel’s direction.”
It has made a number of requests, including that “online stories which are proven to be inaccurate should be removed from all BBC platforms and YouTube channels” – and for the broadcaster to state that casualty figures provided by Hamas-run health organisations are “heavily disputed”.
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In one case, Cohen’s paper lays into the BBC for using the term “revenge attacks”
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The review’s backers include The Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council, and the Community Security Trust, a charity which fights extremism and antisemitism.
In a joint statement, the trio of groups said that the BBC’s coverage has “led many British Jews to conclude that the BBC has become institutionally hostile to Israel” – which the BBC has rebuffed, saying it does “not recognise the overall characterisation of our journalism” in the paper.
Sir Ephraim Mirvis, the Chief Rabbi, said: “Few institutions are as vital for our national cultural identity or for the health of our democracy as the BBC.
“That’s why the content of this report, which records the repeated and longstanding failure to ensure impartial and accurate news coverage of the existential war that Israel is fighting on multiple fronts, is so profoundly troubling.”
The Chief Rabbi has labelled the report’s contents “profoundly troubling”
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The Chief Rabbi has, however, said the conflict is “a matter that senior leaders at the BBC take seriously” – and has backed its call for an independent impartiality inquiry into the BBC.
A spokeswoman for the broadcaster said: “The Israel-Gaza conflict is a polarising and difficult story to cover and we understand there are a range of views.
“The BBC has focused on reporting the conflict impartially, bringing audiences breaking news, insight and analysis, and reflecting all perspectives.
“While we do not recognise the overall characterisation of our journalism in this report, we will of course always look at anything raised with us with care and attention.”