Sky News Faces Backlash for Controversial Interview as Anchor Kay Burley Grills Israeli Government Spokesman on Prisoner Exchange
Sky News anchor Kay Burley went viral on social media last week following what could only be described as an utter car wreck of an interview with Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy.
In the segment in question, veteran journalist Burley probed Levy about the deal in which Palestinian prisoners are exchanged for Israeli hostages who were captured by Hamas terrorists on October 7. Burley’s unbelievably asinine question went thus:
“I was speaking to a hostage negotiator this morning and he made the comparison between the 50 hostages that Hamas has promised to release as opposed to the 150 prisoners that are Palestinian that Israel has said that it will release, and he made the comparison between the numbers and the fact that does Israel not think Palestinian lives are valued as highly as Israeli lives?”
Levy’s wide-eyed look of incredulity was the most natural initial response.
Managing to compose himself after a few milliseconds, he was able to reply, which, to paraphrase, went something along the lines of: Israel doesn’t want to set free any of the prisoners and the only reason Palestinian terrorists are being released is to secure the release of innocent kidnapped women and children.
Perhaps indicative of how much Sky News values at least the appearance of impartiality on the Israeli-Hamas conflict, Burley has refused to row back on her question or even acknowledge its sheer absurdity. “We often put one side of an argument to a guest so they can offer a counterclaim. Yesterday, I raised a controversial view from an earlier guest to allow another to respond,” Burley said in her defense.
The first question that left me speechless (but only for a second): pic.twitter.com/P4Bh0SKtl9
— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) November 23, 2023
Sadly, the Burley-Levy interview debacle isn’t the only time Sky News has seriously flubbed its coverage of the war.
A review of the broadcaster’s output over the past six weeks reveals numerous embarrassing blunders and displays of overt bias.
Indeed, Kay Burley’s line of questioning with Eylon Levy isn’t the first time her interview style has raised eyebrows.
Last month, Burley invited Palestinian academic Ghada Karmi to give her view on the current conflict, which could be best summarized as holding Israel entirely responsible.
While Karmi is entitled to hold her own opinions — however misguided they may be — Burley should have pressed Karmi to explain some of her more shocking and inaccurate remarks, including when she failed to challenge her guest’s despicable assertion that Israel is “taking advantage” of the Hamas massacre.
Meanwhile, another interview earlier this month saw the combative Burley take IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner to task about the Israeli military’s tactics in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Citing the armchair opinion of London-based pediatric neurologist Dr. Omar Abdel-Mannan that white phosphorus has been deployed by Israel on the battlefield, Burley asked Lerner, “Is it?”
Despite Lerner attempting to explain that the use of white phosphorus is not prohibited, Burley continued to repeatedly ask him the same question.
Indeed, so troubling has Burley’s coverage been that commentators are questioning whether she harbors some personal antipathy toward Israel, especially following a video that Burley herself posted online.
In the clip, Burley can be seen discussing the contents of her upcoming show with a producer who tells her they will be covering the hostage situation in Israel. On being reminded of the Israeli hostages, Burley visibly sighs and makes what appears to be an exasperated noise.
This is from Kay Burley’s own Twitter. Watch what happens when the woman who I presume is her producer mentions the hostages held by Hamas, at around 0:28.
— Daniel Sugarman (@Daniel_Sugarman) November 24, 2023
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