Did Sky News journalist Kay Burley ask the dumbest question ever to be uttered on live television on a major news program? I’m open to other possibilities, but it’s going to take some convincing.
The setup was an interview with Israeli Government Spokesman Eylon Levy. Burley then asked a question about the disparity between the number of hostages being released by Hamas compared to the number of Palestinian terrorists being released by Israel. That agreement is part of a broader four-day ceasefire that, as of this writing, has already been delayed by Hamas.
If you have any doubt about whether my headline is clickbait, you are about to be disabused of it.
The first question that left me speechless (but only for a second): pic.twitter.com/P4Bh0SKtl9
— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) November 23, 2023
BURLEY: I was speaking to a hostage negotiator this morning. he made the comparison between the 50 hostages that Hamas has promised, promised to release as opposed to the 150 prisoners that are Palestinians that Israel has said that it will release, and he made the comparison between the numbers and the fact that, does Israel not think that Palestinian lives are valued as highly as Israeli lives?
You really have to watch the video to get the full effect because Levy’s jaw did everything but hit the floor when he heard that. He was actually left speechless for a moment, likely in total shock that a supposed journalist would ask a question so devoid of logic and so tortured in order to support the machinations of a terrorist organization in Hamas.
Does Burley actually believe that Israel chose to release more Gazan terrorists than they would receive in hostages when formulating the deal? That disparity was obviously dictated by Hamas, which originally wanted the release of thousands of terrorists in exchange for the hostages. To ask that question of Levy shows either an astounding lack of basic common sense or such a deep devotion to a terrorist government that Burley would choose to debase herself in order to keep up her support.
After quickly composing himself, Levy let loose on the question.
LEVY: That is an astonishing accusation. If we could release one prisoner for every one hostage, we would obviously do that. We are operating in horrific circumstances. We’re not choosing to release these prisoners who have blood on their hands. We are talking about people who have been convicted of stabbing and shooting attacks.
Notice the question of proportionality doesn’t interest Palestinian supporters when they are able to get more of their prisoners out. But really, it is outrageous to suggest that the fact that we are willing to release prisoners who are convicted of terrorist offenses, more of them than we are getting our own innocent children back, somehow suggests that we don’t care about Palestinian lives. Really, that’s a disgusting accusation.
As I said at the beginning, I’m open to being convinced that Burley’s inquiry isn’t the dumbest question to ever be asked by a journalist on live television, but you better bring the goods. Truly, the normal descriptors I’d use to describe something so ridiculous don’t even convey the weight of the situation.
I’m not a consumer of Sky News, but if this is the quality of journalism it traffics in, I can only suggest no one ever take the network seriously again.
