Netanyahu faces mixed reaction to investigative report response letter
The political establishment in Israel is still stirring over the long, insult-ridden response the prime minister sent to journalist Ilana Dayan; a senior minister from the PM's party, as well as world news sources, reacted unkindly to the response.
Prime Minister Netanyahu's response to a report broadcast on investigative journalist Ilana Dayan's news show Uvda ("Fact" in Hebrew), which contained numerous personal insults aimed at her, has become a topic of intense discussion in Israeli political circles.
While several MKs backed the PM, most of the ruling party's members stayed silent. Those ministers who did criticize Netanyahu did so under the condition of anonymity. One minister said, "Netanyahu's usual trick of calling anyone who argues with him a 'leftist' is becoming ineffective."
Another Likud minister added, "Freedom of speech and the free press in a democracy must be preserved, and that style is reminiscent of regimes we do not wish to resemble."
Another MK described how "My stomach turned when I saw Ilana Dayan reading the response for a number of long minutes."
The first to come out in public in Netanyahu's defense was Minister of Culture and Sport Miri Regev. In a post written on her Facebook page, the minister said, "The prime minister redefined yesterday the rules of the game in the face of journalists who operate with political and personal motives. To start, I would like to lend strength to his wife for her personal and public actions for Israeli society, despite the ugly smear campaign through which she is going.”
"Sadly, some in the media are motivated by political and personal calculations, and are harnessing their journalistic work for one thing—the toppling of right's rule," the post continued.
In a similar tone, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Hotovely said, "The investigative report was part of a work method which attacks Netanyahu's environment without saying anything real about him."
Deputy Minister for Regional Cooperation Ayoob Kara did not settle for a response in words, choosing rather to sent an official complaint to The Second Authority for Television and Radio over what he called, "The actions and bias of the investigative reports on the show."
Likud MK Miki Zohar said of the report and response, "The interviewees in the report proved that the prime minister was right not to trust them."
The only member from the Likud party to publically come out in Dayan's defense was MK Yehuda Glick, who said, "Ilana Dayan interviewed me fairly in the past … and I think it's right to protect her good name here, in the Israeli Knesset. I don't understand, cannot understand, the response by the prime minister who I highly appreciate and respect."
In recent days it became increasingly clear that Netanyahu's harsh words were authored by his close public relations advisor Dr. Ran Baratz, who is known for his penchant for tough, sometimes controversial statements.
