CBC article on Israel ‘falls short’ of journalistic standards: Ombud - National Post
Copy URL Facebook Linked In X (Twitter) Loading account options Sign In Manage Account Close account menu Sign Out Israeli soldiers take position during an army operation in Tulkarm in the West Bank on Aug. 29, 2024. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP via Getty Images) By Courtney Greenberg November 4, 2026 at 2:29 p.m. Last Updated: November 4, 2026 at 2:41 p.m. A CBC News article critiquing Israel “falls short” of the publication’s journalistic standards, according to a review by the CBC Ombud.
The admission was made after a reader complained about anti-Israel bias — and it’s not the first time CBC has come under fire for this reason.
In August 2024, CBC published an article written by journalist Chris Brown. It focuses on an Israeli military operation in the West Bank and the effects of the settler movement.
Reader Susan Glickman filed a complaint. “CBC reporting lies about Israel fuels the already rampant antisemitism in Canada,” she wrote.
In particular, she pointed out a sentence in the article that she said blamed Israel for failing to achieve peace in the region, it says in the review. She asked for a retraction as well as an apology.
A correction was made, but CBC Ombud Maxime Bertrand wrote that the modification was “highly questionable.”
“To the general reader — CBC’s primary audience — the passage could still be read as singling out Israel for blame in the failure to find peace,” she said.
Glickman, who was joined by another reader, Aaron Eisen, both expressed their disappointment after the sentence was rephrased.
“Somehow, even after Oct. 7 your reporter is blaming Israel for demanding the right to exist,” they wrote.
Bertrand said that CBC was “acting within journalistic norms in publishing a critique” of Israel and “was under no obligation to include extensive backgrounding.” She also noted that the story was part of its “dedicated coverage” of the developing situation in the Middle East.
“Having said all this,” she wrote in the review, “there is one important point I’d like to address: journalistic neutrality.”
She concluded: “Therefore, I find the modified text falls short of meeting the CBC’s Journalistic Standards and Practices requirements for accuracy and impartiality.”
It was not clear what next steps would be taken, if any.
Bertrand did not immediately respond to National Post’s request for comment.
The CBC has faced similar scrutiny in the past.
A study published in January by HonestReporting, which monitors Canadian news for bias, found that CBC “humanizes Palestinian suffering through individualized, emotionally rich portrayals and direct quotation, while Israelis —including hostages — are rendered largely invisible as people.”
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, called for “an independent commission of inquiry to investigate” its coverage and “hold the broadcaster accountable.”
A January report by Jewish advocacy group B’nai Brith Canada that analyzed nearly 300 CBC articles about the Israel-Hamas war found only 37 per cent were balanced or neutral.
Nonprofit pro-Israel organization StandWithUs condemned CBC after one of its Jewish reporters, Neil Herland, was suspended for posting on X about his personal experience while walking to a Yom Kippur service in downtown Toronto, where anti-Israel protesters were stationed.
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