Continuing its apparent practice of being an unpaid publicist for the anti-Israel cause, CBC recently produced a news article, a lengthy radio interview, and a secondary re-broadcast shining a spotlight on Israelis refusing to join the country’s compulsory military service.

On March 16, on her program The Weekend Morning Show (Manitoba), host Nadia Kidwai spoke with 21-year-old Einat Gerlitz and 19-year-old Tal Mitnick, two Israelis who refused to join their country’s military. The pair are in Canada on a speaking tour organized by Independent Jewish Voices (IJV), a fringe group that has defended the right of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas to use violence against Israel.

The 23-minute segment entitled: “Why two young Israelis refused their mandatory military service,” featured Kidwai speaking with the pair about their decisions and experiences in Israel, the latest in her segments which have featured overwhelmingly anti-Israel speakers, ranging from conspiracy theorist Francesca Albanese to local anti-Israel activists.

Click below to watch the full segment:

Much of the interview featured the two guests leveling repeated radical claims, including Gerlitz calling Israel a “fascist government” and an “apartheid regime” which “oppresses my friends and their families”.

But the most extremist comments came from Mitnick, who repeated the genocide slur against Israel a total of five times during the segment, said that Israel, through its “siege, apartheid and occupation,” brought Hamas’ October 7, 2023 massacres upon itself, and that “every young Israeli is more fascist than his parent.”

Though Kidwai largely avoided challenging her guests, she offered some gentle pushback twice, following allegations of genocide, she stated that Israel denies those charges, and in the face of this hateful slur by Mitnick about Israeli youth being fascists, Kidwai asked Mitnick if his remark could “feed into antisemitism,” which Mitnick denied.

However, the dangers emanating from repeatedly featuring anti-Israel guests on her program and giving them an overwhelming platform to spread extremist rhetoric cannot be undone by a couple gentle comments from Kidwai.

The following day, CBC News published an article by reporter Yasmine Hassan on the very same subject entitled: “Meet the 1st Israeli jailed for refusing military conscription after the Oct. 7 attacks.”

Aside from why a speaking tour by a fringe anti-Israel activist group merited so much extensive coverage from CBC News, the article offered yet more free publicity for IJV and its radical agenda, quoting Mitnick claiming that Israel was “genociding its neighbours.”

Strangely, Hassan’s article noted that the October 7, 2023 massacres by Hamas were “what many consider” the deadliest such attack on Jews since the Holocaust, though that statement is not a matter of opinion, but demonstrable fact.

But even two reports on the same speaking tour was not enough for CBC. On March 17, the CBC radio program As It Happens included a brief snippet of the interview between Kidwai and her guests, featuring statements made by Gerlitz about the alleged “oppression” by “the apartheid regime” of Israel. Despite the controversial nature of the comments made by Gerlitz, no opposing guest or audio segment was provided to listeners, part of a long-running trend by As It Happens to interview almost exclusively anti-Israel guests when discussing the Middle East.

Given that CBC has found it critical to produce so much content about a speaking tour featuring guests who accuse Israel of being a genocidal and fascist regime, presumably it will also interview other guests with a pro-Israel voice, including proud IDF soldiers, both active and retired, and other noteworthy guests, such as the Crown Prince of Iran who is scheduled to visit Canada in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, given CBC’s poor coverage of Israel over the last 18 months, Canadians should not hold their breaths.