Complaint
A listener cited a report in this bulletin as an example of the BBC’s recurrent failure to make clear that Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories are in breach of international law, calling into question the BBC’s accuracy and impartiality on the issue.
Outcome
Though it may be appropriate in some contexts to specify the status of the settlements under international law, it is not a requirement of accuracy or impartiality to do so on all occasions. In the context of this item, which reported President Biden’s remark that the current Israeli government contained some of the “most extreme” cabinet members he had ever seen, it was sufficiently clear that the settlements were a source of controversy without reference to their legal status (which is in any event disputed by the Israeli government).
Not upheld