Israel hits back at Chinese state media for broadcasting 'blatant anti-Semitism'
May 19, 2021
Beijing [China], May 19 : Israeli embassy in China expressed discontent over what it called "blatant anti-Semitism" expressed on a program ran by a Chinese-state media outlet discussing ongoing violence between Israeli forces and Hamas.
In the program on CGTN, a Chinese state-affiliated media, host Zheng Junfeng questioned whether US support for Israel was truly based on shared democratic values.
The 3.36-minute clip of the program was also shared on the CGTN Twitter handle.
The host said: "some people believe that US pro-Israeli policy is traceable to the influence of wealthy Jews in the US and the Jewish lobby on US foreign policy makers."
"Jews dominate finance and internet sectors," Zheng said, speaking in English. "So do they have the powerful lobbies some say? Possible."
Replying to the clip, the embassy said: "We are appalled to see blatant anti-Semitism expressed in an official Chinese media outlet, we have hoped that the times of the "Jew's controlling the world" conspiracy theories were over, unfortunately anti-Semitism has shown its ugly face again."
This comes at a time when tensions have skyrocketed between Israel and Palestine.
Israel carried airstrikes in Gaza, as Hamas and other Palestinian militants fired multiple rocket barrages at Israeli cities.
China recently offered to host Israeli-Palestinian peace talks amid escalating violence, South China Morning Post reported.
During a virtual meeting of the 15-member UN Security Council on Sunday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi again called for an immediate ceasefire between the two sides and for Israel to lift its blockade and siege of Gaza as soon as possible.
He also said Israel needed to stop expelling Palestinians from their homes, stop violence and threats against Muslims, and respect the status quo of religious sites in Jerusalem.
At the same time, the Palestinian side should avoid escalating the situation, including by firing rockets towards Tel Aviv, he said.
Meanwhile, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian did not directly condemn Israel when asked to comment on Monday, but stressed that the "vast majority" of the UN Security Council had a common voice on the issue and that the US needed to "fulfil its due responsibilities".
