Promo for a movie by Reshet about Moshe Katzav (Reshet 13)
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 very 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 complete with the final result." Apparently, someone online went to a self-acceptance workshop, because yesterday we 'got' to see the same interview as part of what they called a 'documentary' about the Katsav affair, and in fact it was a longer article than usual.
Cynicism aside, the real reason for broadcasting the film about the Katsav affair is now clear to everyone - the series "Aleph", which is currently airing on Bis and Sting TV and is based on the book of the same name by Odelia Carmon, one of the complainants against Katsav and who was known as Aleph from the Ministry of Transport, receives positive reviews and a lot of buzz, and apparently someone on the channel thought that they too would manage to squeeze more ratings from one of the affairs that shook the State of Israel. In practice, those who hold fruit in their hands should know that it will forever be forbidden to eat.
What was initially an interview was broadcast yesterday as providing a historical overview of the Katsav affair (including a soft narration reminiscent of a nature movie) that shows all sides except those of the complainants. The list of interviewees is relatively limited and includes mainly Adv. Zion Amir, who was Katzav's lawyer, the prosecutor in the case, Adv. Irit Baumhorn, Dr. Yuval Yoaz and Katsav himself. Apart from narrow ratings considerations, there is no reason to give a platform again to those who have reached the status of number one citizen and exploited it to continue to harm the women subordinate to them.
Despite all the years that have passed, it seems that Hans Moshe Katsav remains exactly the same person he was at that famous press conference where he lashed out at Gadi Sukenik ("You've talked enough!") in a horror show of rage and detachment from reality. Since the interview was turned into a film, we can't hear whether Cohen Saban asked Katsav difficult questions, we get his answers as long monologues scattered throughout the film. What is clear is that he still blames everyone but himself.
You have to rub your eyes and clean your ears to understand how much immaturity and zero sense of responsibility there is in this man, who is still telling himself the same absurd plot about a crusade that has been waged against him since the day he was elected president of the country. Katsav sees himself as a victim, a man who paid the highest price only because the elites and the media were outraged that someone like him (and I would add, a Mizrahi from the periphery) had reached the most important position in the country. In fact, Moshe Katzav's remarks make him a worthy member of the "Patriots" panel on Channel 14, and the question arises as to why this has not happened until now.
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The same immaturity and zero sense of responsibility. Moshe Katsav (Photo: GettyImages)
I watched the film attentively and it's hard to say that it contains even one new detail about the affair, or something that any of the interviewees hasn't said dozens of times on so many different occasions. Attorney Baumhorn still expresses her anger at former State Attorney Meni Mazuz for agreeing to go for the plea bargain with Katsav, attorney Zion Amir, a man on whom the word narcissist seems to have been invented, only continues to glorify the wonderful representation he gave his client (Katsav) in real time and explains where the client went wrong, and Yoaz provides a legal interpretation of the affair that is on the one hand too old to be interesting and on the other hand too new for us to forget its details. In the end, all we were left with was about an hour of rapist approaching. The names of the victims do not cross Katsav's lips for a moment, he still refuses to admit that he had any kind of intimate contact with the women he assaulted, and in fact the only regret he expresses is that he entered politics.
If you listen really closely, you can hear one moment when the truth almost slips out of his lips, it happens when he talks about why he refused at the last minute a plea bargain that could have gotten him out of the case almost harmlessly, but forced him to admit to some intimate interactions with women who worked under him. Butcher starts saying, "Why sas." (presumably why would I tell) and then correct his words to "why should I lie". Those who still needed a reminder of this man's brazenness received it yesterday when we were once again exposed to a pathological liar and convicted rapist who came to the most respected house in Israel.
Moshe Katsav did not sound ashamed, he took advantage of the platform given to him as he took advantage of the women who worked under him, and even in his audacity he said that "only nine people have heard him to this day." It was as if he himself were a weakened woman and not one of the most powerful men in the country with a battery of lawyers and henchmen who only looked out for his pay and his interests. The shame and disgrace that will infect Network 13 over the broadcast of this "movie" will not pass anytime soon, nor will their attempt to control damage in the form of broadcasting an old interview with Orly Revivo immediately after the film with Butcher. Instead, I recommend watching Dana Weiss's excellent interview with Revivo that was broadcast on Shabbat News, which offers a much broader commentary on the affair, and also watching the excellent Aleph and being exposed to a reality that Moshe Katsav hopes we will all ignore.
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