ABC and SBS reject antisemitism envoy’s call for ‘oversight’ committee to vet Israel coverage

Jillian Segal says there is a ‘common and pervasive perception’ in the Jewish community that ABC and SBS Middle East coverage ‘lacked balance’. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

The ABC and SBS have defended their complaints processes and rejected the antisemitism envoy’s proposal for an external regulatory body, on a day of conflicting evidence at the royal commission.

The envoy, Jillian Segal, told the hearing on Thursday morning there was a “common and pervasive perception” in the Jewish community that the public broadcasters’ coverage of the war in the Middle East “lacked balance”, that there was an overemphasis on Gaza compared with other conflicts, and that the coverage gave disproportionate voice to anti-Israel perspectives.