Britain's Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks, answered a question honestly because he thought he was off the air.
There was a fascinating moment on BBC Radio 4's
Today programme this morning when Britain's Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks, answered a question honestly because he thought he was off the air. That was enough to cause a craven BBC (dictionary definition of craven - "cowardly") to apologize for the fact that one of its presenters had caught him off-guard. So what did he say?
He had just completed his on-air (live) contribution to the programme's two-minute
Thought for Today slot. He spoke in support of the BBC's annual Children In Need appeal which, as he said, is focused on "the right of every child to be safe and secure and reach their own potential." Given that Israel's leaders have no qualms about impoverishing and killing Palestinian children, I would have been impressed if he had said "every child includes Palestinian children."
But he didn't make any reference to them.When the daily speaker comes to the end of his or her two-minutes, that's it. The presenter says "Thank you" and you hear no more from the speaker. But not this morning. Evan Davis, one of this morning's two presenters said, "Jonathan, before you go, any thoughts on what's going on in Israel and Gaza at the moment?"
After an audible sigh, the Chief Rabbi replied,
"I think it has got to do with Iran, actually."
Comment: According to Israeli sources, the Iron Dome missile shield has only intercepted one-fifth of the rockets fired from the Gaza Strip:
Palestinians shoot down Israeli F-16 fighter jet in Gaza, Hamas rockets reach Tel Aviv
US to provide Israel with $680 million for Iron Dome anti-missile system