{"id":314919,"date":"2025-09-08T07:34:01","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T07:34:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=314919"},"modified":"2025-09-11T07:28:26","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T07:28:26","slug":"bbc-and-guardian-editors-held-private-meetings-with-israeli-general-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=314919","title":{"rendered":"BBC and Guardian editors held private meetings with Israeli General"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alex Morris and John McEvoy \u2013 DeClassified UK Feb 27, 2025<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Israel\u2019s former top military officer, General Aviv Kohavi (pictured above) held private meetings with the editors of major British news organisations one month after the Gaza bombing began, Declassified<\/em> can reveal.<\/p>\n

The meetings took place with Katherine Viner, editor-in-chief of the Guardian<\/em>, Richard Burgess, director of news content at the BBC, and Roula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Further meetings were due to be held with Sky News chairman David Rhodes at the Israeli embassy, and then shadow foreign secretary David Lammy, between 7 and 9 November 2023, according to Kohavi\u2019s itinerary.<\/p>\n

By this time, Israeli forces had killed<\/a> over 10,000 Palestinians in Gaza, and Israeli officials had made several public statements of genocidal intent. Kohavi had only stepped down from running Israel\u2019s military months earlier.<\/p>\n

During his tenure, he justified attacks on journalists, saying the soldiers who shot reporter Shireen Abu Akleh in the West Bank \u201cshowed courage\u201d and that he had not one \u201cgram of regret\u201d for flattening the Associated Press (AP) office in Gaza.<\/p>\n

The information about General Kohavi\u2019s visit comes in documents obtained in Israel under the Freedom of Information Act by lawyer Elad Man and seen by Declassified<\/em>.<\/p>\n

They reveal how Kohavi\u2019s tour of Britain was planned with support from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), and Ministry of Defence.<\/p>\n

The trip was specifically designed to take advantage of a perceived \u201creversal in the attitude of Western countries toward Israel [in light of] the severity of the events\u2026 of October 7\u201d.<\/p>\n

To this end, Kohavi was tasked with cultivating support for Israel as it escalated its brutal military offensive in Gaza. His full itinerary can be viewed at the foot of this article.<\/p>\n

A journalist who was working for the BBC at the time of the visit told Declassified<\/em>: \u201cI don\u2019t recall any internal correspondence about the meeting, which the BBC would ordinarily send out if there was a high profile visit of this kind. I also find it very difficult to believe that the organisation would hold an equivalent meeting with the Hamas government\u201d.<\/p>\n

The journalist, who requested anonymity, added: \u201cNot only is Kohavi\u2019s visit unprecedented but it\u2019s also outrageous that one of the most senior editors at the BBC should court company with a foreign military figure in this way, especially one whose country stands accused of serious human rights violations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt further undermines the independence and impartiality that the BBC claims to uphold, and I think it has done irreparable damage to any trust audiences had in the corporation\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018Enhance the trend of support for Israel\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In planning documents for the November 2023 trip, IDF lieutenant colonel (reserve) Gad Yishayahu noted how \u201cvisits by high-ranking Israeli dignitaries to Western countries will help influence various target audiences and thereby enhance the trend of support for Israel\u201d.<\/p>\n

Yishayahu has worked<\/a> on \u201ccrisis management\u201d in the office of the Israeli prime minister, and served in the IDF\u2019s special forces. He recently accompanied Israeli general Oded Basyuk on a secret visit to London, and is listed<\/a> as a visiting lecturer at London\u2019s City University.<\/p>\n

The British media was seen by Yishayahu as a particularly valuable target within this Israeli influence operation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs part of the idea to influence influencers\u201d, he noted, \u201cwe wish to hold meetings between Kohavi and senior media figures, including the CEO of the BBC\u2026 senior officials from Sky, and others\u201d.<\/p>\n

Yishayahu continued: \u201cWe see these meetings as highly important in dealing with individuals who have a significant impact on the legitimacy of the State of Israel in the Iron Swords War\u201d, Israel\u2019s war on Gaza since 7 October 2023.<\/p>\n

It was also proposed that Kohavi meet with Madeleine Alessandri, the chair of Britain\u2019s Joint Intelligence Committee, and \u201cother senior officials from the British foreign, defence, and home offices\u201d. It is unclear whether these meetings occurred.<\/p>\n

Another target was General Sir Nick Carter, Britain\u2019s former army chief who in 2020 signed<\/a> a joint agreement<\/a> with Kohavi to \u201cformalise and enhance\u201d military co-operation between the UK and Israel, details of which remain classified.<\/p>\n

General Aviv Kohavi<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Kohavi was the Chief of General Staff of the IDF between 2019 and January 2023.<\/p>\n

In 2022, he sought to justify the IDF\u2019s killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, an act which the UN described<\/a> as \u201cwithout justification\u201d.<\/p>\n

He claimed<\/a> that Palestinian gunmen had \u201cfired extensively at Israeli forces, recklessly and indiscriminately in every direction\u201d, and that Akleh was \u201ckilled in a battle zone\u201d. The Israeli soldiers, he added, \u201cshowed courage and determination to protect Israel\u2019s civilians\u201d.<\/p>\n

The same year, Israeli forces flattened<\/a> a high-rise building in Gaza housing an AP office in what was widely viewed as a war crime. Kohavi reportedly said<\/a> the \u201cbuilding was destroyed justly\u201d and he did not have one \u201cgram of regret\u201d, erroneously claiming<\/a> AP staff had been drinking coffee with Hamas electronic experts.<\/p>\n

In 2021, Kohavi also flaunted<\/a> how he had been \u201cresponsible for the order to open fire\u201d on Palestinian protesters during the Great March of Return in Gaza in 2018-19. Over 200 Palestinians \u2013 including 46 children \u2013 were killed<\/a>\u00a0as they tried to return to their ancestral homes, and over 36,000 were injured.<\/p>\n

Prior to becoming Chief of the General Staff, Kohavi served as the IDF\u2019s commander of the Gaza division, head of Northern Command, and director of military intelligence.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the BBC told Declassified <\/em>that Burgess met with Kohavi alongside other journalists, adding: \u201cThey were able to question him on the war in Gaza and the IDF\u2019s tactics. We hold similar briefings with figures from both sides of the conflict and all stories\u201d.<\/p>\n

The spokesperson did not say how many other journalists were in attendance, nor clarify whether the BBC has held comparable meetings with representatives from Hamas. \u201cWe are saying that as a principle we meet with figures from both sides of conflicts and all stories\u201d, they said.<\/p>\n

The former BBC journalist commented: \u201cThe BBC and Burgess must put out a statement to confirm the meeting with Kohavi occurred, why it took place, and with whom. Furthermore it should clarify if equivalent meetings were held with senior figures from the Palestinian side.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes perfect sense that Israel would try to extend its influence over one the largest broadcasters in the world, and now that it has been revealed this meeting took place it perhaps explains why there has been so much bias and distortion in the corporation\u2019s coverage of Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Guardian <\/em>spokesperson told Declassified<\/em>: \u201cOur editorial teams regularly meet with people representing a range of views on different issues to inform our reporting\u201d.<\/p>\n

They added that the meeting was \u201cnot an endorsement, but part of responsible journalism\u201d, but refused to provide details about what was discussed.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the FT<\/em> said \u201cRoula Khalaf met Mr Kohavi when he accompanied Israel\u2019s ambassador to the UK to a meeting at the FT<\/em>\u2018s office in London. This was a meeting conducted by a group of journalists who cover events in the Middle East\u201d.<\/p>\n

Des Freedman, a professor of media at Goldsmiths, University of London, told Declassified<\/em> he could find no mention of General Kohavi in any BBC, Guardian<\/em> or FT<\/em> coverage since 2023, when searching on the Nexis database.<\/p>\n

Sky, David Lammy, and Gad Yishayahu did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Guardians of power<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Kohavi\u2019s private meetings with leading media executives have come under scrutiny amid widespread public anger over the British media\u2019s coverage of Israel\u2019s genocide in Gaza.<\/p>\n

An investigation published<\/a> by Drop Site News<\/em> in November 2024 alleged that Raffi Berg, BBC News online\u2019s Middle East editor, \u201cmicromanages\u201d coverage of the Middle East to ensure stories cast a positive light on Israel.<\/p>\n

Berg has also boasted about being indirectly employed by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) while working for the US Foreign Broadcast Information Service.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne day, I was taken to one side and told, \u2018you may or may not know that we are part of the CIA, but don\u2019t go telling people\u2019\u201d, Berg recounted<\/a>. \u201cI was absolutely thrilled\u201d, he continued.<\/p>\n

It was subsequently found that Berg\u2019s home office seemingly dons a framed letter from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a picture with the former Israeli ambassador to the UK, Mark Regev.<\/p>\n

The author of the Drop Site News<\/em> article, Owen Jones, approached Berg for comment. Apparently contesting the claims, Berg said<\/a> he had hired British-Israeli lawyer Mark Lewis, the former director of UK Lawyers for Israel, to mount a legal challenge.<\/p>\n

The Guardian<\/em> has also been criticised over its coverage of Israel\u2019s genocide in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Declassified <\/em>revealed<\/a> last week that disgruntled staff at the Guardian <\/em>have compiled an \u201cexhaustive spreadsheet\u201d with a \u201cmountain of examples\u201d of the paper \u201camplifying unchallenged Israeli propaganda\u2026 or treating clearly false statements by Israeli spokespeople as credible\u201d.<\/p>\n

Another insider told<\/a> Novara Media<\/em> in 2024 that the Guardian<\/em>\u2019s editorial leadership had \u201cbecome more cautious and to some degree more gun-shy [\u2026] partly because the pro-Israel lobby is more aggressive in the UK than it used to be\u201d.<\/p>\n

Reacting to our investigation, professor Freedman told Declassified<\/em>: \u201cObviously off the record briefings have a place in journalism. However, meeting secretly with a senior IDF representative in the middle of a genocidal campaign as part of an organised propaganda offensive raises serious questions about integrity and transparency.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would hope that news titles would go out of their way to avoid accusations of bias by rejecting the offer to meet privately and instead to put such meetings on the record.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn reality, editors at the Guardian<\/em>, BBC and FT<\/em> appear willing to open their doors to Israeli spokespeople \u2013 no matter how controversial and offensive \u2013 in a way which is denied to Palestinian representatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt reinforces growing public perceptions that Israel is treated with kid gloves and is another example of the media\u2019s amplification of Israeli talking points in their coverage of that country\u2019s war on Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

General Aviv Kohavi met PRIVATELY with editors of leading UK media outlets at the start of Israel\u2019s genocidal campaign in Gaza. Were the meetings used to layout the guidelines for UK media coverage? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":314921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[42,37,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-314919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-controlling-the-news-andor-the-free-exchange-of-ideas-and-information","category-Israel_Anti-Semitism_Zionism_and_US-UK_allies","category-The_Media"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=314919"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":314923,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314919\/revisions\/314923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/314921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=314919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=314919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=314919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}