In a press conference on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded sharply to a senior BBC correspondent when asked whether he was ready to resume negotiations with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Responding to Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet, Netanyahu responded incredulously, “Are we living on the same planet?”
“I’ve been calling day in, day out, in every forum, in the United Nations, in the US Congress, in Israel, in Jerusalem, in Tel-Aviv,” the prime minister stated. “I’ve called on President Abbas to resume unconditional negotiations immediately. I’m willing to meet him, he’s not willing to meet me. And you ask me about the resumption of negotiations?”
And if the first admonishment wasn’t sufficient, he added, “C’mon, get with the program. These people don’t want negotiations, and they are inciting for violence. Direct your questions to them.”
The BBC has been criticized lately for biased and misleading reporting on the wave of violence confronting Israel in the last several weeks.
On October 3, a Palestinian terror attack killed two and injured two others, including a toddler. The BBC presented the story with the disturbingly misleading headline, “Palestinian Shot Dead After Jerusalem Attack Kills Two”.
