The National Religious Party-National Union faction says that the resignation of Gabi Gazit from hosting a prime-time talk show is an important step for the rehabilitation of the Israel Broadcasting Authority.



Gazit, long attacked for his abrasive, opinionated and rude manner, hosts the HaKol Diburim (It's All Talk) talk show on Voice of Israel Radio. He announced his resignation on the backdrop of "differences of opinion" with the management.



Though recognized for his crusades on behalf of consumer matters and against corruption, Gazit has drawn several reprimands from his superiors and has been forced to apologize several times.



The most recent example occurred just two days before he announced his resignation. He apologized on air for his remarks concerning a public relations agent, about whom Gazit had said that he helps no one, his clients suffer from him greatly, and "look how much harm he has caused" a particular client.



IMW and PSI

The "Israel Media Watch" organization expressed its satisfaction at Gazit's departure. "His style and manner of expression have no place in public radio," the organization stated. "It is to be regretted that [the termination of his employment] was not done properly by IBA head Moti Shklar as soon as his contract ended recently." The organization had filed in court against Gazit's continued employment with the public authority.



Prof. Ron Breiman of "Professors for a Strong Israel" also praised Gazit's departure, saying he hoped that "other broadcasters of his ilk would also leave the Israel Broadcasting Authority."



Gazit's monthly salary from IBA is reportedly 56,000 shekels. His show, which runs from Sunday through Wednesday, will continue until the end of this month; it is not yet known who will replace him. It has been rumored that Gazit will continue to broadcast on a privately-run station, "Radio L'lo Hafsakah" (Non-Stop Radio).



"Gabit Gazit's departure is an important step in the rehabilitation of the IBA," says National Union Secretary-General Nachi Eyal. "[It will help the IBA] become a public radio channel that respects the various public sectors and does not mock those whom the broadcaster does not like."



Eyal recalled that during the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif, Gazit likened their behavior to those of animals in a safari and said, "I prefer the animals."



Samples

In January 2006, Gazit insinuated that "hareidim and some of the religious" are those who attack children in dark stairwells because they "don't talk to their children openly about sex." In June 2006, he was forced to withdraw his apparently illegal recommendation to visit a Chinese internet site to watch the World Soccer Cup Games for free; he later said, "I apologize... I'm no longer directing you to that site."



In June 2005, Gazit threatened that if the management of a certain amusement park does not "change its mind [regarding handicapped children] within ten minutes," he would begin recommending that people not patronize the park - even though he himself later acknowledged, in the same broadcast, that it was not his place to call for boycotts.



This past January, he was instructed to apologize after he maligned a commercial for the Efrat pro-life organization.

In 2005, during the Disengagement, grassroots groups initiated a listeners' boycott of his show. They explained that Gazit had "introduced a broadcasting style and culture that harms the character of Israeli media. He also uses his public stage to openly promote political moves that accord with his personal opinions [such as] the expulsion from and destruction of Gush Katif. This behavior directly causes incitement and fissures in Israeli society."