Transcript:
Just days apart, PBS conducted interviews with a senior Hezbollah leader and an Israeli diplomat. Let’s see how they went.
Presenter: The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah…
Far beyond a “militant group,” Hezbollah is an Iranian proxy and an international terrorist organization responsible for the death of thousands, including hundreds of Americans.
It got worse from there. Here’s interviewer Simona Foltyn.
Foltyn: …the previous US-backed ceasefire that was supposed to end the 2024 war. Israel had reserved the right to strike what it said were Hezbollah targets, violating the agreement more than 10,000 times in 15 months. Hezbollah held back until the US and Israel attacked Iran.
That’s false. Hezbollah often violated the ceasefire, both by rearming and with live fire.
Here’s the very same Hezbollah official Foltyn interviewed, admitting as much.
Safa: In fact, during this 15-month period, Hezbollah and the Islamic Resistance were working to rebuild their capabilities.
Ok, back to PBS.
Foltyn: There have already been several violations in the first day of the ceasefire. Is Hezbollah committed to abiding by it?
Safa: Hezbollah is committed to the ceasefire.
Foltyn: The decision to reenter this war, was that an Iranian decision or a Lebanese decision?
Safa: Absolutely, Lebanese decision.
What a polite interview! Foltyn didn’t take the opportunity to ask hard-hitting questions, like about Hezbollah’s 20-year-old failure to disarm, as required by UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
Foltyn: But if Israel was preparing for another war, why attack first and give them the justification on a silver platter for what you knew would be a disproportionate response that would claim many civilian lives?
Foltyn’s question seems to be doing the Hezbollah official’s work for him. She presented Israel’s response as “disproportionate” as a fact, concealing the vast number of Hezbollah casualties among the dead.
Safa: The Israelis don’t need a pretext.
No argument from Foltyn!
Safa: Let us be clear and honest. Hezbollah’s ethics and religion prohibits it from killing civilians.
Once again, Foltyn didn’t push back on this outrageous lie.
Hezbollah’s long history of killing civilians is well-documented—for just a sample, look at the thousands of indiscriminate rockets and missiles the terrorist group launched at northern Israel following Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023.
How did this compare with PBS’s interview with Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon a few days later?
Danon: But to accuse Israel, that we target reporters, you know, that’s a blood libel. That we gather intelligence?
Bennett: Excuse me, sir. I take issue with that, sir.
Danon: That we gather intelligence…
Bennett: At what number of dead journalists does that answer become one that the international community can no longer accept?
Danon: Maybe they were next to Hezbollah terrorists and that’s why they were in line of fire, unfortunately.
Bennett: Do you know that to be true? Do you know that to be true?
Danon: Let me tell you one thing.
Bennett: Do you know that to be true, sir?
Danon: We will focus our efforts-
Bennett: I take that as a no.
This line of questioning from PBS’s Geoff Bennett indicates a lack of understanding of how Hezbollah operates by integrating its civilian and military infrastructure. Many Hezbollah operatives also work in civilian professions, including media.
There’s nothing wrong with asking tough, challenging questions—indeed, it’s a journalist’s job. But that’s not what Geoff Bennett did here. He presented conclusions and accusations masked as questions, his cross-examination lacked context, and he failed to allow Danon to give complete answers.
And it’s striking to note the difference from PBS’s soft-spoken “rare interview” with a top Hezbollah leader just days earlier.
See also “Polite to Hezbollah, Hostile to Israel: ‘Both Sides’ Interviewed on PBS’“