LONDON, October 19. /TASS/. President of Israel Isaac Herzog believes that we are witnessing a "battle for civilization" in the Middle East, with his country protecting "the whole world."
"It is a battle for civilization, a battle for humanity, and we are at the forefront of it, and we are protecting the whole world," he said in an interview for The Daily Mail.
Herzog called the Hamas movement "the worst terrorist organization in the world," putting it on a par with the Islamic State (deemed terrorist and outlawed in Russia).
"We can't go on living with Islamic State on our borders, we simply cannot. We have to uproot this terror infrastructure and get this mob out," the President of Israel said.
He strongly criticized the BBC’s coverage of the events in Israel and the Gaza Strip. According to Herzog, the British people and the British judicial system must stand up to the broadcasting company for refusing to call Hamas "terrorists."
Previously, BBC was criticized by both the UK’s ruling Conservative party and the opposition, as well as by the public, for calling Hamas members militants, not terrorists, even though the UK recognizes Hamas as a terrorist organization. BBC justified using this moniker by citing its long-standing editorial policy, which suggests that reporters should avoid emotionally or ideologically charged words and definitions in order to remain unbiased.
During the weekend, BBC temporarily suspended several employees from its Arab department after they published statements on their personal pages that could be interpreted as support for Hamas. The corporation was also harshly criticized after one of its reporters said during a live broadcast that the al-Ahli hospital in the Gaza Strip was apparently hit by Israel. Later, the IDF claimed that the explosion at the hospital was caused by a misfired missile launched by the Islamic Jihad group.
Meanwhile, BBC is also being criticized by participants of pro-Palestinian rallies in the UK, who claim that the broadcaster relays Israel’s "occupation propaganda." On October 14, a group of pro-Palestinian activists vandalized doors and walls at the BBC’s headquarters in downtown London with red paint.