Elharar (L) and Oz
Photo: Amit Magal
Musician: 'I'd be pleased sitting atop Treblinka and watching Amos Oz go up in smoke'
Musician and producer Dudu Elharar speaks about past statements regarding sending left-wingers to concentration camps, says, 'Amos Oz called Hilltop Youths neo-Nazis. Anyone using Nazi imagery should have a taste of Nazism'; remarking on Geffen controversy, singer Gidi Gov says hard for him to hear 'new oleh with Russian accent' calling Geffen an 'Israel basher'; Gov later apologizes, but administrator of his Facebook page calls Yisrael Beytenu a 'party of fascists.'
Musician and producer Dudu Elharar participated in a radio show Wednesday and after being asked about Yehonatan Geffen's recent controversial remarks, went on a tangent regarding people from the Left using Nazi imagery and said, "I would have loved to sit on the roof of Treblinka and watch Amos Oz (a famed Israeli author who holds Left-wing views—ed) go up in smoke."
Elharar spoke during Shai Goldstein and Leah Lev's radio show on the 103FM station, in a segment where the hosts call up a person who has made headlines recently without forewarning them.
The two hosts called up Elharar to confront him with things he had said earlier that same day in a televised debate with former Peace Now Director General Yariv Oppenheimer.
Elharar (L) said he'd be pleased seeing Amos Oz going up in smoke in Treblinka (Photo: Amit Magal)
Following the publication of the poem, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman ordered the commander of Army Radio to cease interviewing or playing all of Geffen's songs. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, however, deemed he had no authority to do so.
Geffen is a former colleague of Elharar, as the latter produced his seminal 1978 children's songs album "The Sixteenth Sheep." When he was asked what he thought of the comparison Geffen had drawn between the young Palestinian and the female icons, Elharar said that Geffen was "stupid" and a "dummy," but added that, "freedom of speech was intend to protect fools and nonsense."
Oppenheimer then responded to Elharar, noting that in 2012 he had published a Facebook post in which he said the Israeli Left should be sent to Nazi death camps. "You sent left-wingers to concentration camps, so I don't think you can call anyone stupid."
In a televised debate with Elharar, former Peace Now director Yariv Oppenheimer reminded the producer of his past statements regarding left-wingers (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)
"You're a complete idiot, and always have been," Elharar retorted.
Several hours later, Goldstein confronted Elharar with his own words, telling him, "Yariv Oppenheimer says you wanted to send left-wingers to concentration camps."
"Not just any left-wingers," Elharar explained, "but only those who use Nazi imagery, like Yeshayahu Leibowitz who spoke about Judeo-Nazis, Shulamit Aloni who compared Haredim to Nazis or Amos Oz who called Hilltop Youths neo-Nazis. Anyone using Nazi imagery should have a taste of Nazism themselves."
When Goldstein asked Elharar whether he indeed said Oz should be sent to a death camp, Elharar made the comment about sitting atop Treblinka and watching the author—who was one of the founders of the left-wing Peace Now movement Oppenheimer headed—go up in smoke.
The musician was speaking on Shai Goldstein's radio show (Photo: Gabriel Baharalia)
Television presenter Nissim Mishal was then brought on the air and asked Elharar to recant, which the latter refused to do.
In the 2012 post Oppenheimer was referring to, which has since been deleted, Elharar wrote, "The Israeli Left has lost its head. Dear God! Take these disgusting secretions from our midst, burn away this evil and house them in the places they deserve most—Majdanek, Sobibór, Bergen-Belsen, Auschwitz, Dachau, Buchenwald, Treblinka… In your infinite mercy, please infuse their cup of sorrows with Zyklon B, for them and their deplorable offspring to drink."
Amos Oz refused comment on the matter.
Gidi Gov: 'Hard to hear someone with Russian accent call Geffen 'Israel basher''
Singer and Geffen-collaborator Gidi Gov remarked Monday on Defense Minister Lieberman's instruction to boycott the poet from Army Radio following his contentious poem. "It's hard for me to hear," he said, "and I apologize for the boorishness, ignorance and racism—someone with a Russian accent, a new oleh when it comes down to it, calling Yehonatan Geffen an 'Israel basher.'"
Gidi Gov said he found it difficult listening to a 'new oleh with a Russian accent' criticize Geffen
"Even if someone without an accent had said that," Gov qualified, "it would still be grating."
Gov's remarks created a furor and the singer and television personality was accused of racism. Lieberman's Yisrael Beytenu party also demanded Tuesday he be suspended from his Radio Tel Aviv show for what they perceived to be statements against Russian olim.
The singer disavowed his remarks later that same day and apologized for his statements.
Lieberman's fellow party member MK Yulia Malinovsky was not content, however, and contacted Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit to ask him to "immediately open a criminal investigation for incitement to racism and public racist remarks by Gidi Gov."
MK Yulia Malinovsky asked AG Mandelblit to open a criminal investigation against Gov
"Gov's utterances hurt some three million citizens who at some point were 'new olim' and 'had accents,'" Malinovsky wrote Mandelblit. "In his despicable remarks, Gov intended to say that those who made Aliyah to Israel or had an accent were entitled to limited—if any—freedom of speech and that they were not permitted to speak their minds, certainly not regarding people (Gov) considers the 'salt of the earth.'"
Malinovsky also contacted Bezeq CEO Stella Handler demanding she cancel the Israeli telecommunications giant's agreement with Gov, who is the company's presenter in commercials. The MK also contacted Chairperson of the Second Authority for Television and Radio Yulia Shamalov-Berkovich and the Authority's CEO Nir Shveky and asked them to immediately suspend Gov from radio, fine him and order him to issue a public apology.
Gov then quickly apologized for his statements in a Facebook post, saying, "I commented in my radio show on the boycott Avigdor Lieberman wished to levy on playing Yehonatan Geffen's songs.
"Any political attempt to try and harm an artist for their opinion I find outrageous, certainly when it comes to someone I've worked with so often and who I appreciate/love. Having said that, in the heat of the moment, I characterized Lieberman as a 'new oleh with a Russian accent.'
Poet Yehonatan Geffen (L) started the controversy when he wrote a controversial poem comparing Ahed Tamimi to Anne Frank, prompting Defense Minister Lieberman to order his boycott on Army Radio (Photo: Amit Shabi, Yaron Brener)
"I wish to take back that characterization and apologize for insulting the Russian Aliyah. It was not my intention. (However) I stand behind what I said about a ban on songs by a political figure such as Lieberman. We must not allow that to happen, regardless of what the minister's ethnicity or accent may be," Gov concluded.
Gov's Facebook page courts more controversy
The furor, however, would not die down, as after Gov's apology, the person administering his official Facebook page commented on a post made on the Yisrael Beytenu youth wing's page and called them "a party of fascists" and added, "You young people are simply lost. Mercy on you, how much brainwashing you've been through as kids."The comment came on a post the party's youth wing shared regarding Gov's remarks on Lieberman, in which it added, "Gidi Gov, you and your enlightened left-winger friends must not understand you no longer have veto power over this country. What was once the case is now over. No more flaccidity, no more bleeding hearts and no more rule by Leftist elites. A 'new oleh with a Russian accent' has done and will do more than you and your Israel basher friends ever have together for the State of Israel."
A message on behalf of the beleaguered singer said that, "The operator of Gidi's Facebook page saw the page was tagged by Yisrael Beytenu and wished to respond in person. Gidi had no knowledge of it happening whatsoever. His comment was accidentally published under the page's name, and was immediately deleted thereafter."
