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What the talkback mosses will say: The weekend studios felt like a market of nervous commentators
When former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, one of the most prominent speakers against Benjamin Netanyahu, arrived at Ulpan Shishi, the exchange of insults between him and Bismuth reached a new peak that felt mostly like a slump.
In the corresponding channel the situation was not better.
Even the opposite
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Boaz Bismuth
Ehud Barak
Sharon Gal
Raviv Drucker
TV review
Ben Byron Braude
Sunday, 06 June 2021, 08:28 Updated: 08:40
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First threw the sand in the crate.
Ehud Barak, "Ulpan Shishi" (Photo: screenshot, Keshet 12)
A few days after Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett informed the president that they had "succeeded" in forming a government and perhaps brought the Netanyahu rule to an end, this weekend's current affairs studios gave me a hard feeling of "I got it."
This refers specifically to Keshet 12's "Friday Studio" and "Friday with Ayala Hasson" on Network 13, the two leading news channels of the commercial channels, which have long felt like real battlefields, with the soldiers being political commentators of all agendas.
As in any war, here too there are victims, and they mainly include the drum skin of our viewers, and the political discourse in Israel that has been making the visit to the Carmel market for years feel like a show of the Israeli Opera.
In the panel of "Ulpan Shishi" the atmosphere has been charged for a long time, they described it well in "Eretz Nehederet" when they edited a clip that shows how Rina Matzliach and Boaz Bismuth are artificially separated there and a "Toren" reporter is placed between them. This week no one sat separating the two, but when former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, one of the most prominent spokesmen against Benjamin Netanyahu, arrived at the studio, the exchange of insults between him and Bismuth reached a new high that felt mostly like a slump. If we take it to the worlds of kindergarten and ask "who started first" we can say that Barak is the one who threw the first sand at Bismuth when he called him a 'campaigner' (shofar, in the vernacular) placed in the studio by Netanyahu. From here it has rapidly degenerated into an exchange of insults including "I do not want to hear you" (Barak) and "You are jealous" (Bismuth), when ironically Rina Maslih is the one who serves as a human buffer.
There is no way to criticize this debate without getting into a political opinion, in a polarized country like Israel the tension in the news studios is merely a mirror image of the discourse in the general public.
If I try to address the "dry" facts, Ehud Barak is indeed taking an active part in changing Bibi's rule, which is mainly expressed in many tweets, support for members of the "Prime Minister" movement and quarrels with Yair Netanyahu.
Shofar or not, Boaz Bismuth also earned the criticism of him honestly when for years he never expressed an opinion criticizing the prime minister and using his position on the panel to consistently slam any criticism of him.
In a world of polygamy, both Barak and Bismuth need to be legitimate and viewers must make the choice and filter between the variety of messages they convey.
The problem?
These two esteemed and very established masters are unable to contain the existence of the other, and if they cannot, what will the mosses of the talkback say?
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This time, Rina Matzliach is the one standing in the middle, with Barak and Boaz Bismuth on her side. "Ulpan Shishi" (Photo: screenshot, Keshet 12)
In "Friday with Ayala Hasson" the situation was not better, even the opposite. In the commentary team of the 13 Poles network so contrasting, watching the corresponding edition sometimes seems like a report from the tulip exhibition in Amsterdam. With Sharon Gal and Avishai Ben-Haim on the one hand (the latter was not present on the panel), two of Netanyahu's biggest supporters in the Israeli media, and on the other side are Raviv Drucker and Aviad Glickman, two of his biggest critics, it is difficult to broadcast without reaching loud shouts. And these did come this week when Sharon Gal brought an exclusive scoop, and translated to viewers at home what they published in the RAAM party in Arabic about the emerging coalition agreement with the Bennett-Lapid government. Gal, of course, openly tries to thwart the formation of this government, and does not seem to be exactly Makes sure to be precise in the details, so statements like "Bennett sells the Negev to Arabs" are not really based on facts.
Raviv Drucker, who sat on the other side of the panel, did not spare his criticism of Magal, and went on to lecture him on the same "Kaminitz law" concerning planning and construction and suddenly became central to Israeli political discourse.
Between us, it is interesting to check how many Israelis who are not farmers or Bedouin who are residents of the Negev are really interested in this law, and to wonder if all the preoccupation with it is not another round that the citizens are doing to us.
"You make fun of yourself" and "Do not brag about me" were two sentences that were repeated many times in an argument between Gal and Drucker, while Hasson, a sharp journalist and a strong woman in general, seemed to have given up in advance on separating the hawks.
The debate simply heated up and faded naturally as the two men finished competing over who could shout louder.
More on Walla!
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It is difficult to conduct a broadcast without reaching loud shouts.
Sharon Gal and Raviv Drucker, "Friday with Ayala Hasson" (Photo: screenshot, Network 13)
If Jerry Springer's volume current affairs broadcasts are your cast, you're probably also watched 'Meet the Press' on Rainbow 12, where this week too there were whole discussions going on at such a high volume that dogs hid under sofas, but it's really routine.
Beyond the low entertainment that the flagship editions have gone on to provide us, what's really sad is that our viewers do not get any real content from watching them.
It is very difficult to think or learn anything new about Israeli politics, when each of the speakers speaks from a position and the personal baggage is so great.
One might just hope that the emerging government will mark the end of this period, but there is also a reasonable possibility that this is just the beginning.
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