BBC can’t let go of ‘right-wing’ Israeli politics

Here is the BBC’s take on the subject of the talks which began on February 3rd, aimed at establishing a coalition government after the recent Israeli elections: 

“Correspondents says Mr Netanyahu’s likeliest allies are other right-wing and religious groups, although he may also need the support of centrists.”

coalition talks

That analysis from anonymous “correspondents” is of course rendered somewhat less credible by the fact that, in addition to commencing Likud-Beiteinu’s efforts to build a coalition by opening with talks with the centrist ‘Yesh Atid’ party, Mr Netanyahu has already defined that coalition’s agenda as including more than one item which could make alliances with some of the political parties which the BBC homogeneously describes as “religious groups” less likely to be on the menu.

“On Saturday night, Netanyahu said he would try to form as wide a coalition as possible while pledging to try to heal many of Israel’s internal divides — on equality of military service, on easing economic burdens, and on electoral reform — “without tearing the nation apart.”

Netanyahu also said neutralizing the Iranian nuclear threat would be his government’s first task, and his government would work toward peace with the Palestinians.” 

Of course with another four weeks (and perhaps more) of coalition-forming discussions still to come, it is far too early to speculate how the eventual coalition government will look, but there can be no doubt that the BBC would be better able to report on this subject accurately and impartially were it able to ditch some of the preconceived ideas about Israeli politics to which it clings so determinedly.  

That same rule of thumb also applies of course to the BBC’s coverage of the peace process. Its audiences would be much better served by a news provider which did not shoe-horn in misleading statements based on an accepted narrative rather than on facts – such as the one below from the same article – at any and every opportunity:

“Peace talks have been stalled over construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.”

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