Tel-Chai Nation

Channel Two TV in Israel, if you ask me, has one of the worst left-wing news stations in the country's MSM. They've led a constant bias in favor of left-wing parties, now including Kadima, and have also been quite hostile to Benjamin Netanyahu. Now, the Likud is protesting this bias. Here's the latest report:

MK Michael Eitan (Likud) has complained to the Public Elections Committee about alleged discrimination by Channel Two's news division against Binyamin Netanyahu and in favor of the Kadima Party.

MK Eitan asked the Committee head, Supreme Court Justice Dorit Beinish, to issue a restraining order banning Channel Two from broadcasting forbidden election propaganda.

The Likud petition quotes findings of the "Israel Media Watch" organization, which indicate a clear preference for Kadima on Channel Two broadcasts. Channel Ten, on the other hand, was found to be balanced in its election coverage of the various parties.

As an example, Eitan's complaint states that at the end of last week - a critical juncture in the election campaign - Channel Two broadcast two forbidden election propaganda clips. The first was what Eitan called a "one-sided and malicious character assassination of Binyamin Netanyahu." The clip contained "over 50 insulting, abusing, lying and subjective remarks about Netanyahu," the complaint charges, "which reflect only the personal positions of the news company."

[...]

This is not the first time that the Likud has complained against Channel Two. MK Gilad Erdan said that the station's political commentator Amnon Rabinovitch consistently airs his anti-Likud positions. Erdan's request that Channel Two balance its coverage was not fulfilled.

Channel Two is decidedly a station worth boycotting. No need to watch their news broadcasts, nor a lot of their "talk shows". It's unlikely that this very sleazy TV station will modify their positions or tone down their biases, and thus, they're not worth watching.

As for Channel Ten, while they may be more balanced to a certain extent, if you ask me, not entirely. They've given more interview time for Kadima representatives than for Likud's, and as a result, they're really not that much better than Channel Two.

In other election news, the National Union has continued to show why it's a bad party, as I've come to realize by now, and is also - yes, you guessed it - opportunistic. Much as I would like to respect Benny Elon, this interview with him shows just how dreadful he really is:

Asked if most of his efforts during this campaign are on behalf of his party, or for the sake of the right-wing bloc, MK Elon said, "It's a good question, because in fact we have two goals: to be the largest party within this bloc, and to make sure that it is strong and powerful so that it can be a real alternative. At the start of this electoral campaign, our parties attacked each other a lot, such as the Likud against Yisrael Beiteinu, and the like. I felt that this was very damaging, and I tried to change this, and I feel that these efforts have borne fruit, and we are realizing that we have to work in a more united way. After all, our common enemy is the feeling of despair among many of our voters, and the feeling that they are fed up with politics. The margins between the parties do not encourage people to come and vote - but when we present it as a race between the party blocs, and when they see that the gaps are narrowing, this wakes up people and they will realize that they have to get out and vote. We are trying to drum it in: Every vote makes a difference."

Yes, every vote makes a difference, but the way he's putting this across, I'm afraid to say, is very dishonest. First of all, he's lying if he's saying that he tried to change their approach. Today, I still found some ads in which they're still attacking even the Likud, without explaining exactly why. Second, he's really exaggerating if he thinks they're going to become the largest party overnight. That's wishful thinking, and it's not what should be the main concern just now either.

The National Union has also lied about Netanyahu supposedly supporting the pullout from Gaza. What really happened was that Netanyahu voted against the original retreat proposal, and after it had passed, he successfully got the cabinet to agree to separate the retreats from each distinct locality or settlement, by mandating a separate cabinet vote before retreating from each village, which would have delayed the process and would have allowed for it to be reversed. Unfortunately, by the time Sharon implemented the plan, the composition of the cabinet had changed, and the smaller cabinet ignored the previous decision proposed by Netanyahu. That is, those who became Kadima had the majority, and so, Netanyahu's efforts to help stop the retreat failed.

What a shame that Elon cannot be the powerhouse he could've been. He failed to do the most important thing for this campaign, which was to educate the public about the dangers of terrorism and international diplomacy that now threaten the country more than ever. As a result, all that he and the National Union have done is strengthen my decision to vote for the Likud.

Labels: Israel, msm foulness