TV

Caution: Excessive consumption of Avishai Ben-Haim could harm democracy

Even when it seems that the babysitters are starting to get rid of Netanyahu, Channel 13 has still not managed to get rid of Avishai Ben-Haim.

Since the exposure of the contacts for a plea deal for Netanyahu, Ben-Haim has returned to our lives at the height of his power, and he is more delusional than ever.

Something in his internal filter seemed to be damaged, and any attempt to display a journalistic façade was gone

Living Room Fellow

20/01/2022

Thursday, 20 January 2022, 08:51 Updated: 09:06

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In the video: Netanyahu meets again with his lawyers (Photo: Niv Aharonson)

Now what's really going on here? It is worth pausing for a moment on some fascinating matter, which is very easy to miss. Yaniv Bitton, who is truly one of the greatest of the generation, arrives, at least when it comes to acting and comedy, and gives him an impossible task: to be funnier than Avishai Ben-Haim. The imitation is brilliant, one by one, and Bitton manages to capture the smallest nuances, from the hand movements to the innocent-but-creepy smile - and yet he has no chance. With the exception of a few doctors specializing in corona wards, it is hard to think of a person who has had to work harder nowadays than Yaniv Bitton, with smaller chances of success. No matter how ridiculous the imitation will be, no matter how silly the texts they put in his mouth, they will never be able to really stand up to the doctor's source. It's a battle lost in advance.

While Yaniv Bitton's imitation can still be enjoyed, the joke that is Avishai Ben - Haim's "interpretation" has long since stopped being funny.

His unfounded theory, that rapes every political event into frameworks that have been broken decades ago, has never deserved a broad stage.

Its essence has always been to undermine the rule of law in order to justify the continued tenure of a criminal defendant in the role of Prime Minister.

With the rhetorical flexibility of a rubber girl, Ben Haim repeatedly succeeded in adapting his theory to the various developments in the affair, until he reached a climax and accused the entire Israeli justice system of conspiring against the authentic leader of the second Israel.

Yes, the multi-millionaire from Caesarea, do not let the facts confuse you.

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Now what's really going on here?

Yaniv Bitton makes Avishai Ben-Haim, "A Wonderful Land" (Photo: screenshot, Keshet 12)

Channel 13 people have always known that Ben Haim's presence in the studio has become anti-news in recent years.

There was a time when the News 13 system still thought that this attempt to arouse the ethnic demon from his bed in a polite and smiling way was worth rating points and public discourse to them.

In practice, all that happened was that the loyal viewers who accompanied the esteemed Channel 10 news system left.

To be fair, the choice to increase Ben Haim's exposure was not the only mistake that drove viewers off the screen.

The rating system in Israel is problematic, and personally I do not think this is the right way to examine new editions - but it is also difficult to ignore the clear trends.

As soon as the "News 10" brand was deleted, and a homicide was confirmed to him with the help of Ben Haim's "theory", the ratings also began to plunge.

Recently, when the Doctor disappeared from the screen (rumor has it that he took a break to write his book on Second Israel), a slight recovery trend began in the ratings of the edition.

A correlation does not prove causality, but it is fun to stop for a moment and fantasize, if only for a split second, that perhaps the television audience in Israel is less dumb than what they make of it.

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It could have been romantic if it had not been so dangerous.

Avishai Ben Haim (Photo: Screenshot, Network 13)

The problem is that even while it seems that the babysitters are starting to get rid of Netanyahu, Channel 13 has still not been able to get rid of Ben Haim. Since the exposure of journalist Ben Caspit about the contacts for a plea deal between the Attorney General and Benjamin Netanyahu, Ben Haim has returned to our lives at the height of his power. The doctor returned to shelling out his views on Twitter, and on Channel 13's never-ending current affairs programs.

Earlier this week, Ben-Haim came to Sharon Gal's program to explain that the demand to disgrace Netanyahu is "a more vulgar and medieval demand than flogging." Ben-Haim could not have hoped for a more flowing conversation partner than Sharon Gal, who let him continue to attack (in his amiable way, obviously amiable) Netanyahu's lawyers and described them as "small people with no historical consciousness." He later added a warning, a threatening doubt, about what would happen to Netanyahu's supporters if the "hegemony" put him in jail.

It was a hallucinatory and illogical monologue, even in Ben Haim's terms.

Something in Ben Haim's internal filter seems to have been damaged, and any attempt to present a journalistic façade has disappeared.

Not a commentator, not a doctor and certainly not a journalist: just rake in a market that deserves to protect his beloved.

It could have been romantic if it had not been so dangerous.

A man who gets on a big stage to spread a conspiracy theory against the already battered rule of law.

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Gladiator in front of hungry lions.

Avishai Ben Haim with Or Heller and Baruch Kara (Photo: screenshot, Network 13)

The channel apparently liked what they saw, and returned Ben Haim as a gladiator to the same arena, with some hungry lions in front of him. Sharon Gal was replaced by Or Heller, along with legal commentator Baruch Kara, lawyer Kobi Sudri and Haaretz political correspondent Michael Hauser Tov. At the beginning, a home video was shown of Itzik Zarka, one of the most prominent and blatant Likud activists, calling on Netanyahu to continue fighting to the end in court and not to sign a plea deal. Hence began a discussion of the philosophical question of whether a court has a moral right to disgrace a politician or not. Sudri also tried to confront Ben Haim with the question of whether he, as the official spokesman for Second Israel, does not think that admitting the offenses attributed to Netanyahu justifies disgrace. Ben Haim answered in the negative. In other words: there is no problem for the prime minister to be a criminal who has admitted to serious offenses. It may be that Ben-Haim really believes this, but how much does he belittle "Second Israel" to claim such a fiction in its name?

The discussion ended not long before a strange comparison was made by Netanyahu to Nelson Mandela, which Ben Haim raised to claim that he did not agree with this comparison (by the way, I do not think there is room for comparison between Avishai Ben Haim and the people who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Raises it). After the hearing, Michael Hauser chose well to break the silence and explained why he did not participate in the hearing. In polite words, he explained that the hearing should not have taken place in his opinion because Benjamin Netanyahu is sitting on the dock in the courtroom, and not an entire public as people like Avishai Ben-Haim are trying to claim.

Everyone in the studio knew Hauser was right, but they could not really argue with him.

Between the lines, the guest from the Haaretz newspaper said that the discussion was legitimate because the program had an editor and he chose to hold this discussion.

In return, Or Heller replied that the program did have an editor and that he was urging her to cut back on commercials.

It was a rare moment of journalistic-poetic venom.

For a few moments the spectators could see how the processed sausage served to them was produced.

Israelis are addicted to the news, and have become accustomed to the bad and spoiled product sold to them through the commercial channels.

In the midst of this addiction, Avishai Ben-Haim is like the red sticker on the fattening products in the supermarket, and like the frightening warnings about packing cigarettes.

Another thing to ignore on the way to the deep aspiration of the thing that makes you so bad.

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• Avishai Ben Haim

• Yaniv Bitton

• Channel 13

• Benjamin Netanyahu

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