The scandal around MK Yinon Magal (Jewish Home), a former journalist, who has been accused of improper behavior toward female journalists he worked with in the past, is causing less outrage in the religious Zionist sector than in the secular press, according to two prominent religious journalists.
Speaking on Galei Yisrael, Emily Amrousy of Israel Hayom explained that politics dictate the reaction to scandals such as this. When Amrousi herself recently accused a leftist journalist of verbally harassing her in a Facebook post, she recalled, feminists were silent. In the present case, she said, it is the leftist feminists who are lashing out at the nationalist Magal, and the religious-nationalist camp feels less of a need to join in.
She added that she sees hypocrisy in the accusations leveled against Magal by journalist Racheli Rottner. Rottner alleged that Magal had made improper statements to her at a going-away party that was held for him by the Walla website, where he had been editor-in-chief and she was employed as a journalist.
However, it subsequently turned out that Rottner herself was prone to vulgar statements in her own journalistic work and Facebook posts. Amrousy estimated that Rottner had not really been as shocked and hurt by Magal's words as she says, since such talk is par for the course in secular and leftist workplaces.
Besheva editor in chief Emanuel Shiloh agreed with Amrousi and cited a mishnaic precept according to which the seriousness of an insult depends on the identity of the person who was insulted, and the one who made the insult.
Shilo said that if the Jewish Home Chairman tries to reserve a slot for Magal on the next Jewish Home list for Knesset, as he did in the previous one, there would be a great outcry, and Amrousi estimated that in the next primaries, the Jewish Home will show Magal the way out of its Knesset list.