Egyptian Journalists Syndicate condemns TV interview with Yair Lapid - Foreign Affairs

Al-Ahram Weekly

17 hours ago

Khaled El-Balshy, president of Egypt's Journalists Syndicate, has denounced a recent televised interview between Egyptian TV presenter Emad El-Din Adeeb and former Israeli foreign minister Yair Lapid, calling it a 'professional and humanitarian crime'.
In a statement released on Friday, El-Balshy accused Adeeb of giving a platform to justify the 'war crimes perpetrated by the Israeli occupation army'.
The interview with Lapid, who currently leads the opposition in Israel, aired on Thursday via Sky News Arabia from the United Arab Emirates.
El-Balshy reaffirmed the syndicate's longstanding opposition to all forms of normalization with Israel, referring to a 1981 decision by its general assembly that opposes engagement with Israeli officials on professional, union-related, or personal levels.
He noted that Adeeb was expelled from the syndicate in September 2020 following a disciplinary committee ruling over his dismissal of dozens of journalists from the now-defunct Al-Alam Al-Youm newspaper.
Had Adeeb still been a member, El-Balshy said, disciplinary action would have been taken in response to the interview.
He also urged journalists to adhere to the syndicate's anti-normalization stance, warning that any current member who violates it would face immediate internal investigation.
The interview prompted widespread criticism on social media, with commentators accusing Adeeb of failing to challenge Lapid's falsehoods and of promoting normalization with Israel. Some critics said the broadcast could serve as a cautionary example in journalism schools.
Veteran investigative journalist Yousri Fouda also criticized the interview. While acknowledging that journalists have a duty to seek truth from all sources — including adversaries — he questioned the editorial judgment behind the broadcast.
'The problem arises when you cannot answer these questions: Why this interview? Why now? And for what purpose?' he said.
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