An Israeli TV Channel For Netanyahu Fans Rapidly Gains Influence

Israeli military command? Part of the left-liberal "deep state". The country's judicial system? "Bandit". What about the thousands of Israelis protesting the far-right government's judicial reform plan? Privileged, elitist and anarchic.

These are some of the recent conflicting messages from anchors at Israel's Channel 14, a once small and niche channel that has quickly impacted public discourse in the deeply divided and troubled country.

As the Supreme Court on Tuesday considers whether to block or halt an attempt by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government to overturn the judiciary, an attempt that has angered many Israelis and sparked months of street protests, Channel 14 portrayed the court as an opponent. Democracy. .

Speaking about the court's 15 judges, a Channel 14 commentator said: "We are in a situation where these 15 people can build a fascist oligarchy."

These views clearly reflect Channel 14's right-wing bias, which has intensified in recent months amid political unrest in the country.

Ratings for its major prime-time programs sometimes exceed those of Israeli public broadcaster Khan and the ratings of major commercial broadcasters.

"There are three news stations, and they are on the left side of the map. We are on the right," said Halel Bitton Rosen, the station's war correspondent. The difference is that we don't hide.

Just as Fox News promoted President Donald Trump in the United States, conservative media outlets are neither ashamed nor apologetic for their support for Netanyahu's governing coalition, the most right-wing and conservative in the country's history.

Channel 14, which began broadcasting a decade ago with a mandate to focus on Jewish heritage, has received support, supporters say, from a media landscape they see as largely liberal and partisan.

His audience includes many Netanyahu supporters, traditional Jews, nationalist settlers in the occupied West Bank and disaffected residents of the country's geographic and socioeconomic outskirts, home to many of Tel Aviv's high-tech hubs. Israeli liberals.

Critics say the channel not only reflects the country's political and social divisions, but also that the fight against the government's justice plan is exacerbating various divisions in society, fueling and intensifying divisions. Israeli

“Now we have a mouth and ears,” said Guala Navi, a 71-year-old Channel 14 supporter.

“I hear the truth here,” Navi said of the site. “I'm addicted. I watch this in the morning and evening, and also when I'm cooking.

With her was her son Nir Navi, who was responsible for the financial disaster.

Naawi Netanyahu's staunch supporters have been accused of racism, and Mizrahi Jews of Middle Eastern origin have been criticized by Ashkenazi Jews of European descent, who have long constituted Israel's elite.

Navi, echoing the sentiments of many Netanyahu supporters who say the hardline government that took power late last year is revenge on liberal Israelis over the years, called the Channel 14 incident a "microcosm" of society.

Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, has accused mainstream Israeli media of harassing him and his family. Two of the three criminal charges they face involve allegations of misconduct for the purpose of positive media coverage. He said he didn't do anything wrong.

In recent months, Netanyahu has frequently given interviews to foreign broadcasters but has effectively shut down most Israeli broadcasters. But since October last year he has given seven interviews to Channel 14 as part of a study published by the Israeli media magazine Seventh Eye.

The majority shareholder of Channel 14, Itzhak Mirilashvili, is an Israeli investor of Russian origin in VK.com, the main Russian social network. The Israeli billionaire was born in Georgia during the Soviet Union and is the son of Mikhail Mirilashvili, owner of Watergen, a technology company that produces water from thin air.

Netanyahu praised Watergen's technology in 2015. In a 2018 speech at a policy conference of the pro-Israel American advocacy group AIPAC, the former Netanyahu administration introduced regulatory and licensing changes that would allow Channel 14 to become a news station. . Critics say it will take control of the Jewish radio station, freeing it from the financial obligations imposed on other news outlets.

A year ago, Watergen was one of four senior Israeli officials whom Netanyahu introduced to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who came to Israel to discuss the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, including drinking water shortages. . All this has raised questions about Netanyahu's company and the channel's advertising.

Both Mirilashvili are inclined to retreat. Canale 14 spokesman Omar Merhi said: “We respect the terms of our license. We act only in accordance with the law.

“I am not aware of any government interference in the channel,” he added, adding: “I have not yet decided where the prime minister will be questioned.”

Located in the industrial area of ​​the city of Modin, between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, the station has the highest ratings for wrestling shows like "Patriots".

“People are yelling at each other on prime time,” said Tehila Schwartz Altschuler, director of the media reform program at the Israel Democracy Institute in Jerusalem, describing the program. Channel 14. “I call them dopamine programs.”: They give viewers the same psychological state they are accustomed to on social media.

“They have a very one-sided view of reality,” he added. “There’s not even balance. There is no commitment to truth and no excuse for lying.

Media watchdog group Bodkim said it spread 70 false or misleading statements between August 2022 and April this year, spreading conspiracy theories that oppose government-led justice reform and fear the future will delegitimize Israeli democracy. . .

Commentators have accused the protests of being CIA-backed without evidence and have called the demonstrators descendants of Jews who refused to fight the Nazis during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising during World War II.

The recent controversy surrounding Yigal Amir, the Jewish extremist who assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, showed that it was time to come out of prison, prompting major companies to pull advertising from the site. The station apologized and stated that the speaker would not appear again; But he said he would not allow them to advertise on the site unless they agreed to use their influence to suppress what he considers free speech.

Popular talk show host Shimon Riklin hosts the controversial rabbi who destroyed hundreds of televisions in protest against television culture.

In a live broadcast, the rabbi accused the founders of the Israeli state, the “leftist” Labor Zionists, of abandoning the Jews during the Holocaust. Riklin said the Israeli army is “highly ethical” and does everything possible to avoid harming innocent civilians.

"It still feels like you're one of the few here, not one of the favorites," said Foreign Secretary Nate Langerman, who recently visited the studios from her home in Paris. "We won a majority in the elections, but we are still almost alone in the media world," he said in an interview.

Some Channel 14 employees say they don't want balance.

"Many people who share the station's values ​​- patriotism, patriotism, cultural heritage and Judaism - feel like their voices have been lost in the media," said war reporter Beaton Rosen. Channel 14 fills this gap.

“When you go to a restaurant, you get a menu,” added Mr. Bitton Rosen, who has worked in the restaurant industry. We display our menu upon entry. “Anyone who wants to eat is welcome.”

Hiba Yazbek He reported from Jerusalem.

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