Irish TV Presenter Vincent Browne. Photo: Wikipedia

Irish TV channel TV3 has been ordered to give a live on air  apology after a presenter,Vincent Browne, called Israel a “cancer” in October during an episode of his show, “Tonight With Vincent Browne.”

A complaint was made to the the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland shortly after Browne said Israel is “the cancer in foreign affairs” and asserted that Israel “polarises the Islamic community of the world against the rest of the world.” Furthermore he added that the creation of Israel was “a massive injustice — they stole the land from the Arabs.”

According to the Jewish Chronicle, the BAI found that Browne’s comments did not meet the requirement of being “fair, objective and impartial” and said that the statements were “not balanced by contributions from the programme guests.”

Browne Defended his remarks shortly after the show, saying of Israel:  “I didn’t mean it should be eliminated. It was an infelicitous use of the word.

“The reality is the Israeli state was founded by confiscation of land previously occupied by Arabs. That injustice is at the centre of the conflict.”

Responding to accusations of antisemitism, he said: “I’m not antisemitic and will not be blackmailed.” The BAI did not uphold the accusation that his remarks were anti-Semitic.