Israel's foreign ministry has boycotted Arabic satellite network al-Arabiya for taking a senior Israeli official off the air by request of a Lebanese commentator, a ministry spokesman said on Sunday.
The Dubai-based channel halted an August 17 interview with Lior Ben Dor, deputy manager of the ministry's Arab media department, after Lebanese international law expert Hassan al-Juni protested at appearing alongside a "Zionist official".
The station was to have interviewed the commentator from Lebanon, which has no relations with Israel, and Ben Dor on a split screen. Both officials were asked to speak about Israel's pullout from Gaza which it aims to conclude this week.
"This is a grave incident," said Gideon Meir, director-general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. "A reputable news agency does not treat its guests in this way."
As a result, the ministry had requested that the Israeli army, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office and all ministries refuse any interview requests by al-Arabiya.
In Dubai, a senior al-Arabiya executive slammed the decision, calling it an overreaction and saying the station had not received a formal complaint from the ministry.
"Content-wise, our presenter asked the questions that need be asked, irrespective of the other guest's commentaries. We invited both parties and tried to be as balanced as possible," the executive told Reuters.
"We have faced considerable difficulties to cover this important event in Gaza, (and) as for the decision by the Israeli authorities, we don't believe this is the right way to pursue the issue," the official said.