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You mentioned that the British media is often very anti-
Israel. Many people around the world saw the recent
video of a BBC journalist saying “Israel is happy to kill
children,” to Naftali Bennett, for which she did later
apologize. What is the reason for this media bias, and
how do you work against it?
Firstly, there is clearly a lot of ignorance about Israel, and I take
every opportunity to speak to journalists, to represent Israel on
TV and radio and more. Each time we have a high-level Israeli
figure come to the UK we have a press briefing which is an
opportunity to tell more of our story.
Beyond responding to falsehoods and bias, we also try to tell
people that Israel is not a one-dimensional story that is only
about the conflict with the Palestinians. Take the past few years
since the pandemic, in which issues of public health have come to
the fore. From Israel’s response to the pandemic, to the tremen-
dous start-ups in the field of bio-tech, there is so much that Israel
offers the world in dealing with the issues of our time. Another
example very relevant to this year is everything in the field of
AI, in which Israel is very much at the forefront of innovation.
To focus only on the conflict is to miss such a significant part of
Israel’s story and contribution to the world.
When it comes to the conflict itself, there is also so much igno-
rance. I actually think that the story of the Dee family made a
big impact on the British public. Lucy, Maia and Rina Dee were
British citizens, and their murder was widely reported. Rabbi
Leo Dee spoke powerfully of his experience and values, and this
was Cambridge-accented English, and it made a big impact on
the British public.
Top to bottom: Meeting with Suella Braverman, UK Home secretary; Ambassador Our public diplomacy department also works with different com-
Hotovely with with Israeli and UK foreign ministers Eli Cohen and James Cleverly
(PHOTOS: EMBASSY OF ISRAEL LONDON PRESS OFFICE) Joint Chanukah candle lighting Bahrain- munities, such as the Indian community and even the Muslim
Israel-UAE Ambassadors to the UK (CREDIT: JEWISH NEWS)

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