“Suggesting that Israel is ‘happy to kill children’ has no basis in reality and to spread this idea to audiences of millions undermines BBC impartiality,’’ Bennett said after the interview.

The BBC has sparked a backlash after a presenter insisted that “Israeli forces are happy to kill children” in an interview with ex-Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, the Jewish Chronicle reported.

During the interview, which was about the operation in Jenin, Bennet defended the two-day Israeli incursion by the IDF. The IDF said it had killed 12 Palestinians, all of them terrorists. At least two of them were younger than 18; Majdi Arawi and Ali al-Ghoul were both claimed by the Islamic Jihad terrorist group. One Israeli soldier died.

In the interview, BBC anchor Anjana Gadgil asked Bennett: “The Israeli military are calling this a ‘military operation,’ but we now know that young people are being killed, four of them under eighteen.

“Is that really what the military set out to do? To kill people between the ages of 16 and 18?”

Responding, Bennett said: “Quite to the contrary. Actually, all 11 people dead there are militants. The fact that there are young terrorists who decide to hold arms is their responsibility.”

Bennett went on to say that many of the perpetrators responsible for terror attacks that killed dozens of Israelis over the last year came from or were trained in Jenin.

He added: “Jenin has become an epicentre of terror. All the Palestinians that were killed were terrorists in this case.”

Gadgil then interjected: “Terrorists, but children. The Israeli forces are happy to kill children.”

An angry Bennett then said: “It’s quite remarkable that you would say that because they [the terrorists]are killing us.”

After the former Prime Minister how she would define an armed 17-year-old shooting at her family, she doubled down, citing the UN which has “defined [the militants]as children.”

After repeating the question, Gadgil went on to say: “We’re not talking about that.” Bennett affirmed that the dynamic was precisely what the conversation was about.

“Suggesting that Israel is ‘happy to kill children’ has no basis in reality and to spread this idea to audiences of millions undermines BBC impartiality,’’ Bennett told the Jewish Chronicle after the interview.

He said: “The public entrusts media outlets with the task of delivering fair, objective, and unbiased journalism. If they fail to fulfil this crucial duty, they must be prepared to face the consequences of being called out and held accountable.’’

He also noted that the Middle East ‘’can easily be inflamed and it is the duty of international media to report on it responsibly. Otherwise they are part of the problem.”

Reactions from Jewish and pro-Israel groups 

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said it was “appalled” by the BBC presenter’s comments. In a statement, the Board said: “The comments made, including the charge that ‘Israeli forces are happy to kill children’ when discussing armed terrorists under the age of 18, is simply disgraceful.’’

”This is a clear breach of the Corporation’s own guidelines, and we will be contacting the Director General to protest in the strongest possible terms,” it said.

In a letter to the BBC Director General Tim Davie, European Jewish Association Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin wrote the BBC’s presenter assertion such as ‘the Israeli forces are happy to kill children’ cannot possibly meet the standards of journalistic probity that the BBC is world renowned for.

”This blatant untruth, heavily loaded with emotion, and sinisterly reminiscent of the blood libel that has plagued Jewish communities over millennia, was broadcast to a potential audience of millions,” he added.

”Such a blatant lie is not befitting of journalism, much less the code of conduct of the BBC,” he wrote,  urging the Director General ”to reprimand Anjana Gadjil and retract the assertion as soon as possible.”

This blatant untruth, heavily loaded with emotion, and sinisterly reminiscent of the blood libel that has plagued Jewish communities over millennia, was broadcast to a potential audience of millions and articulated by BBC News anchor Anjana Gadjil in an interview with former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett,” Rabbi Margolin said.

“This isn’t journalism, it’s a blood libel,” commented the pro-Israel media watchdog group HonestReporting. “What a despicable accusation.”

“The malice in such an accusation can’t be overstated,” said the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA). “Whatever her intent, it’s precisely this kind of language which fuels toxic antisemitic tropes accusing Jews of murdering non-Jewish children.”