When the IDF is Expected to Uphold Standards not Expected of Other Armies

The BBC has been under fire recently for its anti-Israel bias with even the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt chiming in a few days ago to accuse the British tax-payer funded behemoth of giving credence to Hamas propaganda. But the BBC is not the only British media outlet that is engaged in demonising Israel.

Channel 4 News consistently presents a steady stream of disproportionately negative portrayals of Israel in its coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Even after the October 7 terror attacks, The British broadcaster’s coverage often lacks balance, underreporting the context of Hamas attacks, downplaying Israeli security concerns, or failing to give equivalent attention to anti-Israel incitement or terrorism.

A recent example is when Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer appeared on Tuesday’s (3 June) Channel 4 News programme after reports of at least 27 Palestinian deaths and dozens wounded close to an aid distribution site in southern Gaza surfaced. The Israeli military said that its forces had fired upon the group of people when they were viewed to be advancing in a threatening manner. The group had approached their positions after wandering off the designated access route, not far from the distribution centre in Rafah.

Channel 4 News presenter Krishan Guru-Murthy challenged Mencer after he explained how Hamas steals aid meant for the Palestinians to sell it back to them at extortionate prices so that they can use the funds to sustain the war. Guru-Murthy appears to reject Mencer’s claim that video footage of a similar incident on the previous Sunday shows that the terror group is not above shooting their own people if their extortionate demands are resisted. The heated exchange leads to Mencer saying, “Sometimes Krishnan, you actually advocate for Hamas.” However, the most telling part of the interview is this (6.51):

6:51 (Mencer): Listen, when the British army is accused of doing misdemeanour there is no independent investigation; there is an internal investigation that is what all democracies do…

7:00 (Guru-Murthy): Two wrongs don’t make a right…

7:02 (Mencer): It’s double standards Krishnan, that’s what you’re guilty of…different rules apply to Israel…is it because we are Jewish…

Here, Krishnan Guru-Murthy inadvertently, admits that he expects the IDF to uphold higher standards than the armies of other democracies, including the British army.

Yet Channel 4 News frequently denies accusations of emotionally charged storytelling that disproportionately focuses on Palestinian civilian suffering after the October 7th terror attacks, without adequate coverage of Hamas’s role in initiating hostilities or its use of human shields. This selective framing, in which Israel is expected to uphold standards not expected of other democratic countries, omits critical context and contributes to a narrative that demonizes the Jewish state.