On Thursday, the BBC once again displayed its inveterate hostility toward Israel, as a producer for the network contacted the Israeli Embassy in London and asked if it could supply “an Israeli military voice” who would “be critical of” Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military offensive against Hamas.
Orly Goldschmidt, the spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy, published the message that requested the anti-Netanyahu guest. It read:
Hi, (redacted) this is (redacted) from Newshour on the World Service. Our presenter (redacted) would like to interview a (sic) an Israeli military voice (can be former) about the latest ground offensive in Gaza. We want someone who is going to be critical of Netanyahu and the ground offense (concern about remaining hostages, stretching the IDF capacity, destruction of Gaza or any other reason). Do you think you could help with this? Thank you.
The message ended with a praying hands emoji.
🚨BBC BIAS (yet again)
Today my team received this remarkable message from a @BBC producer at @bbcworldservice.
They don’t want to interview someone knowledgeable, nor someone relevant, just someone who fits the predetermined narrative.
There is nothing balanced or impartial… pic.twitter.com/pm0loEeUFG
— Orly Goldschmidt 🎗️ (@Orlygoldschmidt) March 20, 2025
In August 2024, the BBC rejected a call from more than 200 Jewish staffers, contractors, suppliers, and contributors for a formal investigation into its alleged anti-Semitic reporting.
The call came in a letter whose signatories included Danny Cohen, the former director of BBC Television; “9/11: Inside the President’s War Room” Executive Producer Neil Grant; Fulwell 73 managing partner and former “Cinderella” Executive Producer Leo Pearlman; Claudia Rosencrantz, former controller of entertainment for ITV; and Will Daws, managing director at Plum Pictures.
“We write to you today to request an urgent formal investigation by the BBC board into systemic problems of anti-Semitism and bias at the BBC, alongside senior management’s demonstrable failure to properly address the issue,” the letter stated, adding the signatories’ “anguish and disbelief because we fear we have now exhausted the process of raising our very serious concerns about anti-Jewish racism with BBC Management,” according to The Telegraph.
“The group also sent the board members what they describe as a non-exhaustive list of social media breaches and ‘impartiality breaches in matters of public controversy relating to Israel and Gaza,’ broadcast mistakes that ‘suggest bias,’ and an account from anonymous sources ‘of the fear and mental health toll on Jewish BBC staff, their feelings of isolation and alienation from their bosses and experiences of prejudice and racism at work,’” Deadline reported.
The letter pointed out “impartiality breaches in matters of public controversy relating to Israel and Gaza,” broadcast mistakes that “suggest bias,” and an account from anonymous sources “of the fear and mental health toll on Jewish BBC staff, their feelings of isolation and alienation from their bosses and experiences of prejudice and racism at work.”
But BBC Chairman Samir Shah dismissed the call for a formal investigation, responding that the BBC was “successful” in creating an “inclusive working environment where people from all backgrounds feel welcome, safe and supported. … I am satisfied, however, that where we have made errors, the executive has acted appropriately and handled matters in accordance to the guidance as they apply to my colleagues. Following your correspondence, I have asked the executive to review the papers you sent and to see if there’s anything included that has not been previously considered.”
In November 2023, the BBC, which had presented an editorial slant against Israel for years, was forced to apologize for falsely accusing Israel Defense Forces of committing war crimes in its attack on a Hamas command node at the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza.
A BBC presenter falsely claimed twice on air that Reuters had reported that the IDF had targeted medical teams as well as Arabic speakers instead of what Reuters actually reported, which was that the IDF had included medical teams and Arabic speakers on its team.
“We are hearing from Reuters that is reporting that Israel’s — it says its forces are carrying out an operation against Hamas in Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital and they are targeting people, including medical teams as well as Arabic speakers. They are also saying that Israel is calling on all Hamas operatives in the hospital to surrender at this point,” the BBC presenter claimed, then repeated, “Once again we are hearing from Reuters that Israel says that its forces are carrying out an operation against Hamas in that hospital that we had just heard of; they are targeting Arabic speakers as well as some of the medical staff there and they are asking all Hamas operatives in the hospital to surrender.”
In the original broadcast, the BBC newscaster made sure to repeat the scandalous lie twice in case anyone missed it or misunderstood it. https://t.co/uio5O44Jri pic.twitter.com/pUGaFNO38y
— Adam Fisher (@AdamRFisher) November 15, 2023
Later, another presenter offered a muted apology on behalf of the network, stating, “And now, an apology from the BBC. BBC News, as it covered initial reports that Israeli forces had entered Gaza’s main hospital. We said that medical teams and Arabic speakers were being targeted; this was incorrect and misquoted a Reuters report. We should have said IDF forces included medical teams and Arabic speakers for this operation.”
BBC-
If you don’t want to apologize over and over again for the false information you propagate against Israel – maybe just start publishing the truth? pic.twitter.com/uc62A93yqG— יוסף חדאד – Yoseph Haddad (@YosephHaddad) November 15, 2023
