Amid an Israeli military operation against terrorist groups in the Palestinian city of Jenin earlier this week, BBC anchorwoman Anjana Gadgil claimed that IDF soldiers were “happy to kill children” — remarks that were quickly condemned and refuted by her interviewee, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
“It’s quite remarkable that you’d say that, because they are killing us,” Bennett replied to Gadgil in their exchange on Tuesday. “If there is a 17-year-old Palestinian that’s shooting at your family, Anjana, what is he?”
“Under your definition, you are calling them terrorists, the UN is calling them children,” Gadgil answered.
Bennett in turn said, “No, no, I’m actually asking you: What would you call a 17-year-old person with a rifle shooting at your family and murdering your own family? How would you define that person?”
“We’re not talking about that,” Gadgil hedged. “The UN has defined them as children, and we know that four people between the age of 16 and 18 have been killed in this targeted attack. Let’s not forget it’s a targeted attack. The Israeli forces are going and looking for these people.”
Bennett responded, “I’m missing something. You know, a 17-year-old terrorist can murder civilians. There’s a fundamental difference between what they’re doing, which is explicitly and deliberately targeting civilians, and what we’re doing, which is targeting terrorists. That’s exactly the opposite. We’re doing the right thing, they’re killing civilians and the fact that you’re creating this as morally equivalent or even worse, I think it’s unacceptable.”
Watch the full BBC interview with Bennett here:
On Wednesday, the BBC apologized for Gadgil’s comments. After noting it had received “comments and complaints” about the interview, it said, “Across the BBC’s platforms — including the BBC News channel — these events [the Jenin operation] have been covered in an impartial and robust way. The United Nations raised the issue of the impact of the operation in Jenin on children and young people.”
“While this was a legitimate subject to examine in the interview, we apologize that the language used in this line of questioning was not phrased well and was inappropriate,” the statement issued by the office of BBC Director-General Tim Davie concluded.
Among those who had denounced the BBC was Congressman Ritchie Torres, a Democrat representing New York’s 15th congressional district.
“Here’s a modern journalist telling a medieval lie,” he tweeted. “The blood libel has a long and ugly history of inciting violent antisemitism. It’s a lie so dangerous that it should never be repeated, especially under the guise of ‘journalism.'”
A so-called news anchor from BBC said Israel is “happy to kill children.”
Here’s a modern journalist telling a medieval lie.
The blood libel has a long and ugly history of inciting violent antisemitism. It’s a lie so dangerous that it should never be repeated, especially…
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) July 5, 2023
Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) CEO Sacha Roytman Dratwa stated, “The BBC anchorwoman’s words invoked an age-old antisemitic trope that has no place in modern discourse, particularly on a public broadcasting channel. We appreciate all those who have spoken up against this blood libel, and we demand for the BBC to take steps to ensure it never again provides a platform for such hateful rhetoric, which can and has incited violence against Jews both in Israel and worldwide.”
CAM Research and Data Manager Yoni Michanie noted, “That Anjana Gadgil felt it was appropriate, while in an on-air conversation with Israel’s former prime minister, to baselessly allege ‘Israeli forces are happy to kill children’ is further proof of the growing normalization of demonization of the world’s only Jewish state, a disturbing trend that must be called out and halted in its tracks.”
