Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu attacked the media a short time ago (Monday) at the beginning of the Likud faction meeting, and referred to the Gali ombudsman in Harav-Miara in an allusion.
“We are all witnessing an unprecedented attack by media channels mobilized against the government. Completely mobilized in favor of the opponents of the reform. Live broadcasts, one-sided interpretations, biased polls, fake news 24 hours a day that does not stop for a moment,” he said sharply.
“In the left media, everything is the other way around”
He added: “I remind you with what silk gloves they caressed the previous government. How they went out of their way to disrupt every step and lack of step by Bennett and Lapid.
(Photo: Olivia Pitosi/Flash90)
“But in the left-wing media, everything is the other way around,” he attacked. “In the left-wing media, refuseniks become heroes, roadblocks that make the lives of thousands of Israelis miserable and block ambulances, become freedom fighters. In the left-wing media, a reform that strengthens democracy becomes the ‘end of democracy’. Excuse me, did I say ‘reform’? On the television channels, it is a ‘legal coup’ , ‘Coup d’état’.
“You want to know what a coup is? In any reformed democracy and a living object, the elected government is the one responsible for the army, the police, law and order. This is anchored in law and common sense.
(Photo: Eric Marmor, Flash 90)
“Someone other than the elected government will be in charge of the fight against Iran, the fight against terrorism, maintaining law and order? Who will do this, unelected officials? Will they be responsible for security or the fight against Iran? Will they be responsible for the fate of the people and the elected government? This is what they call democracy This is the opposite of democracy. This is what the media channels, in a ceaseless tsunami of fake news, are trying to instill in the public.
Netanyahu against Channel 12
“I’ll give you one example. Propaganda Channel 12 opened the news yesterday with ‘a rift between the United Arab Emirates and Israel’. At the same time, our Foreign Ministry is talking to senior officials in the Emirates about promoting an economic agreement that will pave the way for a free trade agreement. Israel’s ambassador to the Emirates calls senior officials in the Emirates government And they say, ‘There was no such thing.’ This is one example.
“In the face of the lies, you can only do one thing – tell the truth and fight for the truth. This is what the public expects from us and this is what I ask you to do in the face of the tremendous surge of lies and fake news.
“Perhaps the Israeli media should read today a seminal article in the Wall Street Journal, the most important newspaper in the world, which writes that ‘the reform will not make Israel less democratic.’
(Photo: Yonatan Zindel, Flash 90)
“In all the media channels outside of Israel, what captured the headlines in the last two days was the collapse of the SVB bank. It was at the top of the news and it needed to be. Here it is silenced, ignored as much as possible, for a simple reason: when the money was taken out it was at the top of the news, when the money is returned to Israel it is forbidden God forbid they hear about it.
“Tsunami of Hindu Consciousness”
According to him, “There is a tsunami of consciousness here, the likes of which we have never known, and this is something that is very dangerous for a democratic regime. But there is not only fake news here, but also a thought police that condemns people in the opposition for consoling Minister Yariv Levin on the death of his father, a thought police that condemns people in the opposition who stand by me when I come to shake MK Boaz Toporovsky’s hand after he had a car accident, thought police that justify the opposition’s joining the shocking siege against my wife.
“We see mobilized propaganda channels that try to prevent the opposition from sitting down and talking with us to reach agreements.
“Nevertheless, I am expressing hope here. I hope that there will still be men and women in the opposition who will stand up and be ready to speak. I hope that they will respond to our call because this will only help Israeli democracy and also help determine the agreed reform that we wish to pass here, and I hope that they will find the courage and the honesty to overcome the propaganda channels and come to do the right thing.
“The right thing to do is to talk, to try to reach agreements. It’s not too late and I’m not giving up on that yet.”