BBC Middle East editor’s ‘Israeli propaganda’ court case begins

Raffi Berg, an avowed Mossad admirer, wants journalist Owen Jones to retract a story alleging his pro-Israel bias

The UK High Court has heard arguments in a defamation case, in which a BBC Middle East editor is suing a journalist over an article that accused him of inserting “systematic Israeli propaganda” into the network’s coverage. Raffi Berg, who has publicly heaped praise on Israel, is seeking damages from Owen Jones and a retraction of his article.

Berg has previously admitted that he is an “admirer of the state of Israel.” Speaking in 2020, the editor claimed that he had been “accepted into a circle of trust among the people who belonged to, [and] some of who still work for” the Israeli intelligence service Mossad. He is also the author of a 2020 book titled ‘Red Sea Spies: The True Story of Mossad’s Fake Diving Resort’.

On Friday, the UK High Court heard both sides’ arguments. Berg insisted that the 2024 article ‘The BBC’s Civil War Over Gaza’ “singled [him] out” and attacked his “journalistic integrity,” causing him to suffer an “onslaught of hatred, intimidation and threats.”

The attorney for Jones countered that the article in question was “firmly focused on the BBC’s Gaza coverage for which Berg is responsible,” and that there was “no wider attack on his adherence to journalistic standards generally.”

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Jones vowed to vigorously defend his reporting after Berg filed the lawsuit last November.

The story in question, published on Drop Site News in December 2024, claimed that the BBC was facing an “internal revolt over its reporting” on the Gaza conflict. Citing multiple anonymous current and former BBC employees, Jones alleged that Berg “micromanages” any Israel-related stories, watering down “everything that’s too critical” of the Jewish State and that the editor plays a key role in a wider BBC culture of “systematic Israeli propaganda.”

“Many of us have raised concerns that Raffi has the power to reframe every story, and we are ignored,” Jones cited one BBC journalist as saying.

The BBC, however, stood by its Middle East editor, with a spokesperson telling Jones that his allegations “fundamentally misdescribe this person’s role, and misunderstand the way the BBC works.”