CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the choice of his interviewer for a 60 Minutes segment that aired on Sunday.
Weiss, a self-described “Zionist fanatic,” allowed Netanyahu to pick either 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl or CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent Major Garrett to interview him, according to The New York Post. Netanyahu opted for Garrett, who is not a 60 Minutes correspondent.
Weiss’ offer was reportedly part of an effort to secure the interview with the Israeli leader, who is the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Palestine. Netanyahu also successfully pitched President Donald Trump, 79, on starting the war against Iran.
“Bari did what she had to do to secure the interview,” an insider told the outlet. “Bibi’s office picked Major over Stahl.”
Stahl, 84, had for months been angling for the chance to question Netanyahu, Status News reported earlier, and could leave the show when her contract expires at the end of this season.
60 Minutes correspondents and producers, according to Status, were also concerned by Weiss’ decision.
A CBS News spokesperson told The Post: “It’s the editor in chief’s job to make decisions about bookings and interviews. Major is a world-class journalist and did a tough, fair, and newsmaking interview.”
The Daily Beast has contacted representatives for CBS News and Weiss for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
The Netanyahu interview was the second 60 Minutes sit-down Garrett has conducted since March, when he grilled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on the war with Iran.
A source with knowledge of the matter told The Post that Weiss is keen on “opening up 60 Minutes to the news division,” adding that CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil can expect to appear on the storied program.
“This is exactly what Bari has been talking about doing — breaking down the silos at 60 Minutes and making clear that the show is no longer an island unto itself and subject to its own rules and own editorial standards," this person added.
Apparently, that process means not renewing the contract of 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, after she and Weiss had clashed over a segment on the Trump administration and deportations to CECOT, the megaprison in El Salvador.
Meanwhile, Weiss was accused last week of having “meddled” in another CBS show: Sunday Morning. For the April 5 report about Israeli archeological digs in the West Bank, Weiss made last-minute edits and script changes, according to Zeteo. A network insider told the publication that Weiss had “never jumped in editorially on a Sunday Morning story until this one.”
Additionally, a subject in that story later claimed that his interview was “selectively edited to falsely portray [him] as someone who erases Jewish history.”
