With an emotional signoff, Israel's longest running TV news program has run its last episode after a sudden cancellation following a political battle with the prime minister.
Last broadcast of Mabat
The state-run Israel Broadcasting Authority was notified an hour before Tuesday's broadcast that "Mabat LaHadashot" (A glance at the news), which has been on air for 49 years, was to be shut down.
- "Our broadcast has come to an end," said Oded Granot, Channel One's commentator on Arab affairs. "I have been working at the Israel Broadcasting Authority for only 15 years, but I want to say that I met wonderful people here, journalists, technicians and photographers. Their dignity remains intact."
Economic commentator Oded Shachar added his own words of farewell: "It's a wonderful place, a life experience. It's been wonderful." During the broadcast, employees entered the studio, and one of them tore his shirt in a sign of mourning.
At the end, after the employees sang the anthem, a clip from the song The Ballad of Hedva and Shlomik performed by Marina Maximilian Blumin was aired, which concluded 49 years of public broadcasting.
The decision regarding the date of the last broadcast was made today. David Hahn, the official receiver of the Israel Broadcasting Authority, informed the Knesset Economics Committee of the decision about an hour and a half before the broadcast. Hahn explained that after the commencement of the Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation on May 15, he wants to help establish it, and that IBA employees who are supposed to transfer to the corporation may do so.
As a result, the current affairs and news broadcasts were discontinued, and the IBA's radio stations will now play only music. The receiver asked to leave 20 employees on the channel—to handle the Eurovision Song Contest to be broadcast this coming Saturday.
The message caught Geula Even, the anchor leading the broadcaster's news magazine show and wife of former minister Gideon Sa'ar, during a live broadcast of her program. She burst into tears and thanked people who had worked for the IBA over the years.
(Translated and edited by N. Elias)