Gil Tamri, foreign news editor of News 13, spoke out strongly this week against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the subject of the abductees when he claimed that "Netanyahu really has no incentive to release the abductees, he wants them all dead for his own reasons."
His words caused a big uproar, Tamri apologized on air and was suspended.
However, the suspension itself sparked the debate as to whether a journalistic system should not back a journalist even if he failed in his speech, since he still did not incite and did not exceed the limits of freedom of expression.
Arel Segal and David Wertheim discussed this.
Segal claimed: "What Tamri said is simply factually incorrect."
However, Sgal noted: "I am against the suspension of Ari Shamai and against the suspension of Gil Tamri and I am against the suspensions." Wertheim added: "There is actually a nod here to the government, to the government.
They didn't suspend journalists with much more extreme statements, even from the right."
Gil Tamri/Screenshot, Network 13
Wertheim also said: "Note by the way, right-wing journalists are hardly suspended. He apologized, what's the point of suspending now?".
The sergeant replied: "It's a shame you didn't say these things about other people who were suspended.
I was suspended, when I, Yanon and Shimon did our project with the songs on Twitter and I was suspended."
In response, Wertheim explained: "I think it was just as bad.
There is no problem that there will be a network storm, that they will make a clarification call, but I think that taking a practical act against a journalist, not only is it ineffective, the story is that they will be quiet there in the government.
A journalistic system should not work like that in my opinion."
Segal thought differently: "I am against harming the freedom of expression of any person. I think what Gil Tamri said are abominable things."
But he emphasized: "His freedom of expression is acceptable to me. Even yesterday, the things he said scratched freedom of expression but still within the limits of freedom of expression. Freedom of expression is meant to say things that are very, very bad to hear."
More on the same topic:
Aral Segal
Tamri's age
Radio 103