Promo for a movie by Reshet about Moshe Katzav (Reshet 13)
"It is astonishing to read the very violent reactions of those who hold themselves to be moral guardians and the right standard-makers."
After the (almost) wall-to-wall criticism of the film "The Katsav Affair" that aired last night (Monday) on Reshet 13, comes the response, and it is unapologetic: in a conversation with Walla! Berenger, a senior and central figure in the production of the show, rebuffed public criticism and responded to some of the claims made against the film.
Six months ago, in December 2022, Reshet 13 announced that it would broadcast its first exclusive interview with Hans and former President Moshe Katsav, 15 years after he was last interviewed by the media. According to the reports and promos that have already been broadcast, journalist Sivan Cohen Saban met with Katsav to hear his side of the affair and it was supposed to be broadcast in two parts as part of the program "The Moment of Truth."
The decision to interview Katsav, a convicted rapist who was released from prison in 2016 without ever admitting his actions and, of course, expressing no remorse, sparked widespread public criticism that led the network's management to shelve the film days before the broadcast and announce that it "does not feel at peace with the final result." Even before that, we will recall, was revealed in Walla! Berenger said that Coda Productions, where they produced the show for Network 13, reached an agreement with Katzav's attorney, Zion Amir, to watch the episodes of the series before their broadcast date. Network 13 denied the allegations at the time.
In practice, the "documentary" that was broadcast completely ignored the complainants. And its limited list of interviewees included mainly Adv. Amir, the prosecutor in the case, Adv. Irit Baumhorn, Dr. Yuval Yoaz and Katsav himself. "Apart from narrow considerations of ratings, there is no reason to give a platform again to those who have attained the status of number one citizen and exploited it to continue to harm women subordinates," Walla! Culture.
"It's amazing to read the very violent reactions of those who hold themselves to be the right moral guardians and standard-makers," says Lavalle! Berenger the cause. "Where were those strengths when a series aired? About a man convicted in all courts of the brutal murder of a little girl, including an interview with him before he was acquitted?
"How was the series about Zadorov not a moral low and a stain?" Senior producer of "Parashat Katzav" (Photo: Reuven Castro, Eli Ashkenazi, from "Shadow of Truth", courtesy of HOT8)
"Can you bet that none of the critics bothered to read the court transcripts and understand the complexity of the verdict? This is about the person who was the president of the country, the number one citizen, should he be eliminated?"
How was the series about Zadorov not a moral degradation and a stain? Why is it that a complex story about very unusual legal conduct in the case of a president of a country convicted of rape, when the viewer has the direct opportunity to judge him, Katsav, based on his first reference to the affair in 17 years is illegitimate?"
The official did not respond to the question of why the film was produced only ex parte without giving the complainants an open-mouth, or to the fact that even the show's presenter and initial co-creator withdrew her hands from the production - but did choose to address the harsh criticism leveled at it by journalists on social networks and – unusually – the criticism published this morning of the film in Yedioth Ahronoth, which he calls "real violence."
The criticism (see photo), titled "Stain 13," described in terms such as "nausea" the "moral standards of Network 13 management."
More in Walla!
"Katsav wanted to intervene, Reshet refused": Why was the interview with Moshe Katsav shelved?
See full article >
TV review of the film "Parashat Katzav", Yedioth Ahronoth(photo: screenshot, screenshot)
"Are critics so dismissive of viewers who don't believe they know how to judge what they see? By the way, can you bet that none of the critics bothered to read the court transcripts and understand the complexity of the ruling? Should the person who was the president of the country, citizen number one, disappear? Don't you care for the first time to hear the prosecutor, the main category in the case, tell firsthand what happened behind the scenes? If you saw a movie like this on Netflix about a Colombian president convicted of rape, wouldn't you watch? Would that seem morally low to you? It is customary to complain about television in Israel that it blurs the viewers' awareness, which creators these enlightened visitors want them to grow up here. After all, the criticism (not this violence) was known in advance, and yet it was decided to put our hand in the fire because the story of the Katsav affair is a story on a huge scale. And it is no coincidence that he holds an interesting drama series, endless interviews (including in the last week) with the involvement and victims of the affair and strong emotions in general.
"You can't touch stories like that? Should we be afraid to move from the dictated "moral line"? There is no problem accepting criticism; substantive criticism, also incisive, is part of the creative process. But unequivocal, extreme, violent statements, which are not on the merits and whose sole purpose is to poke fun at the tongue, masquerade as false liberalism and provoke applause in certain groups, are destructive. Who would dare say anything next about an affair "that is considered forbidden by these 'liberal standards'?"
- Berenger
- news
Tags
- Moshe Katzav
- Reshet 13
- Sivan Cohen
