Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been cherry-picking his interviewers for the past several years, but this year decides to do away with interviews altogether, opting instead to post an online video.
Traditionally, Israeli prime ministers gave extensive interviews to all major newspapers ahead of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
For the past several years, Netanyahu would not be interviewed by Haaretz, a paper especially critical of his performance, nor by Channel 10, where investigative journalist Raviv Drucker was the first to publish the story that later came to be known as Bibitours, a saga of alleged corruption involving the prime minister.
Instead of interviews, Netanyahu posts on Facebook a video he calls “Stuff you won’t hear in the media: These are some of the things I do for you, the citizens of Israel.”
The prime minister’s paranoid treatment of the media is not new. During the last election campaign, Netanyahu often complained of the media using extra-strength magnifying lenses to look for his failings. He conducted the campaign as an underdog, despite being elected to his third consecutive term.
In the clip, Netanyahu counts several achievements which he only describes in the most general terms: safeguarding Israel’s borders, a promise to extract the natural gas “from the ground,” and eschewing restraint in dealing with terror.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen in a video he posts on Facebook ahead of Rosh Hashanah, on Tuesday, September 8, 2015. (Screen capture)
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
