Israel Unhappy With BBC Coverage Of War
Ryan R. Jones - All Headline News Correspondent Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - Israelis are expressing a growing sense of frustration with what they insist is the BBC's biased coverage of Israel's war with Hezbollah. Foreign Ministry officials cited by The Jerusalem Post Wednesday said they are under pressure once again to boycott the BBC and revoke the press credentials of its correspondents in the country. Israel previously boycotted the BBC in 2003 for a period of seven months over its coverage of Israel's military response to a particularly intense wave of Palestinian terrorist violence. The BBC regained Israel's trust by establishing a special panel tasked with ensuring objective coverage of the Middle East conflict by the media outlet's reporters. But, Israeli officials say, the BBC is back to its old tricks. The Post quoted army spokeswoman Col. (ret.) Miri Eisen as saying the BBC's coverage had been fair and balanced during the first week of the war, but had become "downright hostile to Israel on every level" after its regional anchors were moved from Haifa to Beirut. Unnamed senior diplomatic officials said recent reports provided by the network "give the impression that the BBC is working on behalf of Hezbollah instead of doing fair journalism." The BBC press office issued a statement brushing off the Israeli concerns.
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