In "Hard Talk" on Radio 4 yesterday Stephen Sackur interviewed Israeli Deputy PM Dan Meridor. The interview is available on BBC iPlayer until 25th August:
I haven't listened to any interviews with Dan Meridor before, but I thought he came across as very reasonable and handled Sackur's difficult questions well. His English is very good but I noticed that his accent became thicker as he became more passionate, particularly when discussing settlements. He made the very good point that the moratorium only applies to Jews - Arabs are still building where ever they like.
The subjects discussed were:
- The Flotilla incident (Sackur was trying to get Meridor to express contrition)
- The settlement moratorium (will it continue?)
- Gaza (and Cameron's remarks in Turkey)
- Peace negotiations
Overall I thought it was a very interesting and insightful interview, although it didn't really offer much new. Sackur was confrontational but I thought only in the way interviewers generally are with politicians. I'd be interested in other peoples' opinions.
PS note to the JC web developers: A preview function would be great on blog posts!
