Kan presenter Ayala Hasson quits amid racism row, accuses broadcaster of trying to silence her

Longtime anchor Ayala Hasson announces that she is quitting the Kan public broadcaster after becoming embroiled in a racism scandal, accusing Kan of trying to silence her.

“I will not be part of a system that seeks to silence significant and substantial voices within Israel in order to appease a specific camp,” Hasson says in a post on X announcing she is leaving.

Hasson had been forced by Kan to apologize after she made comments that were widely criticized as racist and derogatory toward Israel’s Bedouin community.

“Until now, I remained at the corporation out of a deep conviction regarding the importance of giving voice to a different perspective. I viewed this as a journalistic and public mission, especially within an institution whose duty it is to provide a platform for all segments of Israeli society,” Hasson says.

“Regrettably, over time, I have come to the realization that instead of safeguarding freedom of expression and a diversity of opinions, there are those within the corporation who seek to appease a specific camp, even at the cost of attempting to marginalize and silence other voices,” she says, noting the forced on-air apology as the final straw.

She again accuses Kan of trying to appease an unnamed political camp.

In the initial comments, Hasson ridiculed the so-called “change bloc” of anti-Netanyahu political parties for the possibility of joining forces in government with Arab-led parties, asking, “With whom is the ‘change’? With the Bedouin women in the Negev, with veils, whose husbands have several other wives like them, and most of whom are battered women?”

Hasson later also apologized on social media, saying: “I would like to clarify that I had no intention whatsoever of offending any women, and to anyone who was offended by my words, I apologize to her from the depths of my heart.”