Mike Wallace Misses Opportunity to Unveil Iranian Leader Says AJC To: National and International desks Contact: Kenneth Bandler of the American Jewish Committee, 212-891-6771, or bandlerk(At)ajc.org or http://www.ajc.org

NEW YORK, Aug. 13 /U.S. Newswire/ The following was released by The American Jewish Committee in response to an interview of the president of Iran broadcast today on the CBS program 60 Minutes:

The American Jewish Committee is deeply disappointed with CBS newsman Mike Wallace and the 60 Minutes program that aired tonight his interview with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad.

"It is a shame that the venerable Mike Wallace was so determined to secure this interview that he failed to recognize that he and CBS would inevitably be used skillfully by the Iranian leader," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "Known as a tough interviewer, Wallace this time around proved inexplicably passive, perhaps hypnotized by his own unexpected fascination with the Iranian leader. As a result, he failed, among other things, to press President Ahmedinejad on his long trail of damning quotes on Jews and Israel, as well as to challenge the Iranian leader on his support of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations, and his ambitious program to develop a nuclear weapon."


Freedom of the press is one of the golden virtues of American society, a fundamental value totally absent in Iran. But there is a line between a respected journalist and media outlet exercising that freedom and succumbing to the trap of becoming a mouthpiece for a foreign government, a dangerous adversary. In this interview, the line was obliterated by Wallace, and President Ahmedinejad owes CBS a debt of gratitude.

Wallace, in his own questions, actually encouraged the myopic view that Israel was created as a result of the Holocaust. Why ignore the thousands of years of Jewish history, of attachment to the land of Israel, that are at the core of Israel's establishment in 1948?

When Ahmedinejad asked Wallace if he is "a representative of the Zionist regime or a journalist," the veteran reporter never pressed again the Iranian president on the issue of Iran's relationship with Hezbollah. Iran created Hezbollah as a international terror group based in Lebanon, and provides it with large financial and material support, including advanced weapons.

Why did Wallace not use any of his airtime to remind the Iranian President as well as viewers of 60 Minutes that Israel is fighting a defensive war in Lebanon? After all, the hostilities were initiated on July 12 when Hezbollah fighters crossed into Israel to kill and abduct Israeli soldiers as well as to commence firing rockets into northern Israel.

On the issue of Iran's nuclear ambitions, the Iranian President may believe that only the U.S. is criticizing his nation's nuclear program. It is a shame that Wallace did not counter that impression with the cold facts that all permanent members of the UN Security Council, and the International Atomic Energy Agency, have concluded that Iran is intent on developing nuclear weapons and must be stopped, and, indeed the UN Security Council has set an August 31 deadline for Iran to stop its uranium enrichment program.

Wallace's unqualified admiration of Ahmedinejad is inexplicable. "He comes across as more rational than I had expected," Wallace said in interviews with U.S. media promoting the 60 Minutes segment.

"All the more shocking is Wallace's acceptance of the Iranian leader's outrageous proposal to transfer all Jews from Israel to some undetermined location in Europe," Harris said. "Is that rational? Does Wallace really not recognize this as another way to call for the destruction of Israel?"


It was a shame that after waiting a year to get the interview, Wallace did not adequately challenge the Iranian leader on his oft-repeated statements denying the Holocaust and of vowing to "wipe Israel off the map."

By becoming an unwitting vehicle for the extremist regime in Tehran, Wallace has performed a deep disservice to himself, to CBS News and to the American people.



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