Eyal Berkovitch observes a minute of silence in memory of Israeli democracy/from "Ofira and Berkovitch", Keshet 12, February 24, 2023
Following his move from Meshet 12 to Network 13, and after an absence from the screen for more than four months, last night (Friday) Eyal Berkovich was interviewed by Netali Shem Tov on his new home channel.
The presenter and former soccer player shared, among other things, the background to the decline of the "Ofira and Berkovich" program that was broadcast on Beshet 12 and the reason for his move to the competing channel.
The program went down shortly before the war due to vacations, and did not return to it following the war and the transformation of Keshet into a channel that broadcasts only news all day.
"Ofira and I have been together for 18 years, of which we fought for eight years. Serious," said Berkovich.
"There is constant friction between us, you know, like a married man and woman. Many, make up. I fought with her many times before and I didn't leave the program. I left the program because I had enough, I really had enough. Now Ophir, it's another story. I won't say We didn't fight. We fought. There was a crazy explosion. There were SMSes between us. She wanted to go up, I didn't want to go up, she was angry, I wasn't angry. So I told her: 'Go up with someone else. Everything is fine, go up, what The problem?'. Now, they keep saying to me, 'What, are you offended that she went up with other people?' and a half, and then suddenly she sent me some kind of message, so I wrote her a harsh message back, and she came back to me, and in the messages, there was an explosion. We fought and I decided that I would no longer return to this show. I received an offer from a network - and I moved."
"Even today we don't talk," added Berkovic.
"But if I see her on the street, I hug her. Great Ophira. Really, I don't have a single bad word to say about Ophira."
Netali Shem Tov asked him: "Then why don't you call her?" She blocked me.
Very simple," Berkovic said.
Eyal Berkovich in an interview with News 13/screenshot, Network 13
Berkovic also said that on October 7, the day of the massacre committed by Hamas, he was in Dubai with Ofira Assig.
"We were on vacation. We celebrated Opira's birthday. I got up very late on October 7th, I saw 200,000 messages on my phone, I didn't understand what was going on. War, war, war, war, war. It was stressful to be there. My head is working straight away, we are in the country Arabic, they can turn on us suddenly, they can close the gates here."
After a few days he found a flight back to Israel.
"I was thinking," said Berkovic in an interview with News 13. "Because of the whole situation, because of the program that was very intense, a lot of fights. A lot of things that happened before October 7, that cannot happen today. For example, I will not go to fight with an ultra-Orthodox guy now in the studio, There is no chance. There is no chance that I am going to fight with Bibist in the studio. There is no chance that I am going to fight with an Arab in the studio. There is no chance. I think that after October 7 I realized that we need to unite more because otherwise we will be exterminated.
"I said about the Likud that they are a criminal organization, the whole Likud is not want to come
I fought with Ahmed Tibi and Issawi Farij, all of them from the Arab sector do not want to come.
I said what I said about the ultra-Orthodox, who will share in the burden, that they are idlers, of all the ultra-orthodox parties, no one wants to come.
I mean, who was I left with?
With MK Danny Danon who appears in every studio.
And with Ofira."
However, he refused to express regret for statements such as "Likud is a criminal organization": "No regrets.
I said about the members of the Knesset, I didn't say about the voters.
I said about those who run the Likud, yes.
They act like a criminal organization, yes.
who sits at the head of the householder who doesn't speak a word, and sends all his messengers to speak all the nonsense and all the crap they spew out of their mouths."
More in Walla!
You don't have to agree on the content or the form, but there are no brave journalists like Ofira and Berkovitch in Israel
To the full article
From the show "Ophira and Berkovich" Keshet 12/screenshot, Keshet 12
"I think the politicians brought us to this situation," he added.
"These politicians - they should be kicked out, put 120 new ones as far as I'm concerned. All those who were on duty should go home. 120 Knesset members and all those appointed in the army, they should all go home. They all screwed up."
He also said that in his opinion "after the war there should be elections. The war will not end because this is his exercise, the never-ending war. I can bring you a recording that I recorded on the fifth or sixth day of the war, I wrote 'This will be the biggest, longest war that has been here in the country.' . There is a personal interest here. I think Netanyahu, he is only interested in Netanyahu. Nothing else. Maybe he will say, 'Guys, I will take responsibility for once, really, I don't want to do it in a fight or something, and I was 15 years and I I won't do better in the next 15 years because this is what I know how to do, and get up and go, and solve the problem. Really, any other person would get up and go.''
In the interview Berkovich also called for the return of all the abductees "at any cost".
"There is a debate in the public. I hear, yes to bring, not to bring. Bring them at any cost. Think that your girl or my child is there. It's crazy. Bring them at any cost, I'm not interested in 3,000 terrorists, 5,000 terrorists, I'm not interested. So I Hear Ben Gabir and Smotrich don't want to make a deal? Tell me, have you gone crazy? At any cost to bring them, I don't care what. And I am the most right-wing that can be. I am the most Jewish and the most Israeli and the most Zionist and love the country the most."
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Eyal Berkovich
Ofira Assig
Ofira and Berkovich