BBC presenter Nick Robinson has said he “should have been clearer” after facing a backlash for describing Israeli attacks in Gaza as “murders”.
The Today programme presenter came under fire over the comments from an interview with David Cameron this morning over Iran's attack on Israel at the weekend. The unprecedented attack by Iran, which it said was in retaliation against a strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria earlier this month, has raised fears over the war in Gaza spiralling into a wider regional conflagration.
He said he wanted to end the interview with a “question of morality”, telling Lord Cameron: “You will know, I think you’ve talked about, the fact that the West has been perceived to lose the argument, with even many of its own people, ever since the war of terror began. 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 Foreign Secretary replied: “I don’t think that’s right at all. I think, actually, over this weekend and into this week, people can see that the truly malign actor in the region is Iran. A country that has launched a state-on-state attack… for the first time since the Islamic revolution in 1979.”
Foreign Secretary David Cameron was grilled over the UK's response to Iran's attack on IsraelAfter the interview aired, Tory MP Theresa Villiers accused Mr Robinson of “shocking bias” and called for an “immediate investigation”. Mr Robinson took to Twitter to respond, saying: “There’s been some controversy about words I used when I was interviewing the Foreign Secretary @David_Cameron on @bbcr4today about Israel this morning. 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 but nothing other than words ‘when Israel attacks or murders tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians’.
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“I should have been clearer that I was not expressing my own view, let alone that of the BBC when I used the words ‘murders’. In this 15-minute long interview I asked the Foreign Secretary why ministers had supported Israel militarily; why they didn’t go further & support Israel in confronting Iran; why they weren’t tougher in confronting Israel over Gaza and ended with that question about the perceived ‘morality’ and the ‘risk’ of how the government’s position ‘appears’. It was a lengthy and detailed exploration of the policy choices made by the government.”
Downing Street said Rishi Sunak would not use “murder” to describe events in Gaza and that people should be “careful with their words”. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Impartiality, in reference to the BBC, is absolutely paramount. Complaints should be raised to the BBC, to Ofcom in the usual ways if people feel they have issue with the way in which the BBC reported that.
“More broadly, though, Israel is an ally of the UK, is the victim of a brutal terror attack and clearly has a right to defend itself. We should all be careful with our words at this time, particularly given heightened community tensions in the UK.”
The BBC offered no further comment.
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