Hey Israel do you have a pitch about Improving Media Relations?

Dan Rather's crew 'humiliated by Israeli security'

In a letter to Israeli officials, producer says legendary anchorman's crew held up for hours at security checks, strip-searched before interview with Deputy PM Meridor

A crew for Dan Rather was harassed and humiliated by Israeli security officials, a producer for his show has said, the  staffers were forced to drop their pants for a strip search before seeing a Cabinet minister.

 In a letter to Israeli officials that was obtained by The Associated Press, add to growing complaints about how Israeli security officials treat foreign media.

Andrew Glazer, an Emmy-award winning producer at Dan Rather Reports, wrote that the legendary anchorman came to do a story about improving Israeli-Palestinian relations pitched by Israel's Foreign Ministry.

Glazer said problems mounted after they arrived. He said they were held up for hours at security checks. Israeli soldiers barred the crew's veteran Palestinian cameramen — a Jerusalem resident — from accompanying Rather to a West Bank neighborhood. And then came the strip search before an interview with Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor.


Glazer said in the Jan. 25 letter that the team held advance consultations with government and military officials and had a good experience with Palestinian security officials.

"Mr. Rather said that in his career, he had never seen a crew forced to strip prior to an interview — including the one he conducted with Saddam Hussein," Glazer wrote.