Kalman Liebskind on the Media

Excerpted in translation from Kalman Liebskind's column of September 6, 2024 entitled "Who Do You Hate More? Sinwar or Netanyhau?"

"Our mainstream press mentions the same Sanhedrin court. In almost every important issue on the agenda, there are no disputes, there are no arguments for and against. Everyone thinks the same. Everyone talks the same. And as a citizen - not as a journalist, just as a citizen - it's scary. Because in the weighty issues on our agenda, it cannot be that in every discussion between the right and the left and between the opposition and the coalition, one side is always right and one side is always wrong.

And in our case, it is impossible to take seriously a press that proceeds entirely from the premise that its side - the one that seeks to fully accept Hamas's demands - is the just one, the humane one, the one that cares for the abductees, and the other side - the one that demands to be insistent with Hamas and not yield - is made up of a collection of heartless people who are not interested in the fate of the abductees and all that matters to them in life is that Netanyahu remains in power.

This week, Shmuel Rosner and the Jewish People's Policy Institute published a survey conducted immediately after the announcement of the murder of the six abductees. Two positions were presented to the respondents regarding the abductees deal, and they were asked to answer which of them was closer to their own position. 49% of the Jews answered that "Israel must not relinquish control of the Philadelphi corridor, even if because of this there would be no kidnapping deal." 43% answered that "Israel should give up control of the Philadelphi corridor to allow a deal to release hostages." 

Leave the nuances for a moment. Leave aside the fact that Hamas did not respond positively to the deal in question. Let alone the fact that the terrorist organization is not satisfied with the Philadelphi corridor but wants many other important things. Leave aside the fact that we have seen different and varied polls in their results, to a large extent depending on the poll taker and the wording of the questions. Also leave aside the question of what you would answer if you yourselves were asked.

The results of all the surveys, and as mentioned, regardless of their exact bottom line, show that there is a serious disagreement in Israeli society on the question of the right price to pay in the deal. And the fact that the media, which are supposed to reflect this controversy, make sure not to do so, and conduct aggressive propaganda in favor of one position and the complete delegitimization of the other position - is nothing but a professional crime.

Because what is happening these days in the media is something that even I, whose opinion on the Israeli press I have been posting here for many years, have not seen for a very long time. Everything is allowed. Everything is normal. The red lines, if there were any, were completely erased. One by one, all the reporters, moderators, presenters and commentators stepped forward and explained, some with blunt words and some with even more blunt words, that the Israeli government was to blame. A brutal terrorist organization is massacring innocent Jews, and the Israeli press places all the blame on its own government. Hamas's job is to murder us, our own job is to submit to all of its demands, and if we don't do it, fully - it is quite clear that our hands are covered in blood. We have a government of traitors, we have a government of murderers, we have a government of the irresponsible, we have a government that Hamas was willing to do anything to free its abductees, but it stubbornly says no. I ask seriously: what is the difference between the position of the leader of Hamas, and the position voiced this week by our current affairs broadcasts?

And this is not new. Our press has failed miserably in its almost singular role in every contact we have had with the enemy in recent decades. In the Oslo agreement, in the withdrawal from Lebanon, in the Disengagement, in the Shalit deal. In all these events, which ended in rivers of Jewish blood, there was no press that asked questions, there was no press that demanded answers, there was no press that raised doubts, there was no press that criticized.

I know the constant responses that come whenever I make claims of this kind, responses that wonder "why do you deal with the press all the time?". The answer is simple. Because I believe in the role of journalism and its power to correct, check, investigate, monitor, and prevent disasters before they occur. And in all these respects, Israel has no press. There is a huge collection of people with political positions, legitimate positions, of course, who flock like a herd after every political step that fits their agenda without stopping for a moment and without doing their job.

^