CFI’s Parliamentary Chairman in the House of Commons, Rt. Hon. Stephen Crabb MP, has called on the BBC to “urgently review its coverage of Israel” after polling showed that two thirds of British Jews believe the BBC’s coverage on matters of Jewish concern is “unfavourable”.
In an opinion piece for the Jewish Chronicle, Mr Crabb said that “Israel’s remarkable vaccination drive against Covid-19 should stand as a testament to human ingenuity and determination”, yet a recent BBC broadcast “wrongly” implied that Israel is “shirking its moral and legal obligations” with regards to vaccinating Palestinians.
Distorted coverage is “not the result of some left-wing plot in the corridors of power at the BBC”, but rather “a broader left-leaning ‘group think’ that permeates the corporation’s largely metropolitan workforce”, he writes.
“We know that criticism of Israel is the foundation on which antisemitism is all too easily built”, with antisemitic hate incidents now at a “record high”.
Comprehensive polling conducted by the Campaign against Antisemitism found that more than half of British Jews surveyed were unhappy with how the BBC handled complaints about antisemitism.
“Crucially, the survey reveals that 90 per cent of British Jews think media bias against Israel is fuelling persecution of Jewish people in this country”, Mr Crabb states.
He writes: “The BBC needs to urgently review its coverage of Israel if it is to rebuild trust with the British Jewish community”.
Read the full piece here.
