Yeshua: Senior Walla staff opposed changing coverage to favor Netanyahu

Former Walla CEO Ilan Yeshua says it was well known within the outlet that he was being directed to give favorable coverage to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

According to Yeshua, this was opposed by the senior staff.

“There were fights all the time. There were daily fights. [Former Walla editor in chief] Yinon Magal, who no one would call left-wing, would storm out of my office, slamming the door, saying, ‘This is crazy. This doesn’t make sense. What do [the Elovitches] care? What are we doing here?’” Yeshua says.

Yeshua says that sometimes he would rationalize the matter, saying it was a temporary situation, while in other cases he would argue that giving Netanyahu favorable coverage was necessary in order to appear balanced or at least to not appear overly liberal.

“I would adopt the rhetoric and say, ‘No, that [article] really is lefty,’” he says.