Israeli Editor: We Pushed Defeatist Agenda in 2000
A former senior editor in Voice of Israel Radio admitted that the Radio news staff, led by former journalist and current Member of Israeli Knesset Shelly Yechimovich, manipulated news reports in order to cause the Israeli army’s withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000 under then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak. “We slanted the news towards a withdrawal from Lebanon – because we had sons there.”
Mentioning then-host of the morning show Yechimovich and Military Affairs Correspondent Carmela Menashe by name, Dr. Chanan Naveh, who edited the Israel Broadcasting Authority radio’s news desk in late 1990′s and early 2000′s, said late Monday: “the Voice of Israel news room, took upon ourselves as a mission, perhaps an unstated one, to get the Israeli army out of Lebanon.”
Naveh, who now teaches journalism, added: “Three broadcasters, Menashe, Yechimovich, and I, pushed in every way possible the withdrawal from Lebanon towards 2000. In our newsroom, three of the editors had sons in Lebanon, and we took it upon ourselves as a mission – possibly not stated – to get the Israeli army out of Lebanon… I have no doubt that we promoted an agenda of withdrawal that was a matter of public dispute.”
Naveh spoke in a panel at the Haifa Radio Conference where several former and current news broadcasters on Voice of Israel and Army Radios discussed the tremendous influence they nearly all agreed they had on Israel’s national agenda.
At this point, Army Radio broadcaster Golan Yochpaz interrupted, “In my opinion that is just super-problematic – super-problematic.” Naveh did not miss a beat and said, “Correct, I’m admitting it, I’m not apologizing, I’m just saying this is what happened. It came from our guts because of the boys in Lebanon, this is what we did and I’m not sorry… I am very proud that we had a part in getting of our sons out of Lebanon.”
