BBC faces impartiality row over ‘anti-Israel’ comments

The BBC was embroiled in a fresh impartiality row yesterday after Today programme presenter Nick Robinson suggested Israel had “murdered” tens of thousands of “innocent” Palestinians.

Mr Robinson (inset) later said he “should have been clearer” that he was “not expressing my own view” during his interview with Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron after Iran’s attack on Israel.

Commenting before Mr Robinson’s clarification, former Conservative cabinet minister Theresa Villiers urged the BBC to look into the “anti-Israel statement”.

Mr Robinson had said he wanted to end the interview with a “question of morality”. He asked: “Isn’t the real risk of where we are now that Western governments appear to back Israel the moment that Israel is under attack, but when Israel attacks and murders tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians, we say the words but we do almost nothing?”

The former PM did not agree “at all” with the statement and said people can see that “the truly malign actor in the region is Iran”.

“Even by the BBC’s standards this is shocking bias,” Ms Villiers said. “The BBC should launch an immediate investigation into this.” Tory MP Greg Smith said the comments were “outrageous bias”.

In a statement, which stopped short of an apology, Mr Robinson said: “My final question was about the perceived ‘morality’ of the Government’s position – in particular the ‘risk’ that their position could ‘appear’ to look like active support for Israel when it is under attack…

“I should have been clearer that I was not expressing my own view, let alone that of the BBC, when I used the word ‘murders’.”

Asked for comment, the BBC pointed to Mr Robinson’s statement.