Israel Hayom reporter posts audio to back up interview with famed historian

Israel Hayom reporter Dror Eydar has released audio from an interview with historian Robert Conquest after a rival reporter hinted that Eydar had distorted Conquest's statements to bring them in line with Israel Hayom's conservative agenda.

Eydar denies altering Conquest's words, though he admits it was hard to understand the 95-year-old's English.

Conquest, now a research fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution, is famous for his works on Soviet history, including "The Great Terror" (1968 ) and "The Harvest of Sorrow" (1986 ).

Conquest was in Israel to receive the prestigious Dan David Award; Yedioth Ahronoth's Sever Plocker also tried to interview him.

Last week, on the day a lecture by Conquest at Tel Aviv University was canceled, Conquest was scheduled to give interviews to Eydar and Plocker.

On his Facebook page, Plocker wrote that when he tried to interview Conquest, he found the historian "a wreck" and that he "couldn't get a single clear sentence out of him."

So Plocker was surprised, he said, to read the Israel Hayom interview. "And not just any interview." Plocker wrote. "The elderly professor told Israel Hayom exactly what Israel Hayom wanted to hear. That Israel is right about everything, that it's good it annexed the Golan Heights, that its fear of Iran is justified."

To show that the interview was not fabricated, Eydar posted parts of the audio on Facebook, accompanied by a transcript in English.

Eydar wrote that the person who transcribed the interview understands Conquest's "somewhat British accent." According to Eydar, "Plocker's remarks suggest that I fabricated the interview .... That's also what hundreds of his followers think, who showered me with invective and doubted my credibility."

Eydar added, "I ask: So Plocker didn't get an interview out [of Conquest]? Why is Plocker better than anyone else? Did anyone check what happened in that meeting? How hard he tried, and in what way?. Moreover ... my expertise is in research in political science and international relations, so why would I fabricate an interview?"

Eydar wrote he did not know that Plocker was also supposed to interview Conquest.

He noted Conquest's opinions "that do not suit the tone of a certain level of academia in the media .... The question must be asked, was it respectful to Conquest - one of the greatest historians and intellectuals alive - for Plocker to project his failure onto Conquest's 'old age and senility'? What does that serve if not Plocker's ego and his desire to provide answers about ... why Israel Hayom has an interview and Yedioth doesn't?"

Eydar said he intentionally posted the parts of the interview that angered Plocker the most, "after which he claimed that Conquest is 'a Likud voter.'"

Eydar concedes that it was hard to understand Conquest, but that "it's worth making the effort in honor of this man. After hearing his words, you'll ask - is this a man who is 'senile' or 'a wreck,' as Plocker's shameful definition has it? What do you think? Will Plocker dare apologize to me? Or maybe his followers?"

brandy steve nash