Reshet TV, which operates Israel's Channel 2, on Sunday evening dismissed two workers who were behind a video uploaded to Facebook and which turned out to be a fake news item targeting haredim.
In the video, which was posted at the end of last week, reporter Guy Hochman was seen walking around the city of Bnei Brak holding an Israeli flag in order to examine the reactions of the city's residents. He claimed that locals spit on him and threw eggs at him and that he and the crew accompanying him felt "a real danger to their lives," as they put it.
Later in the video, two motorcyclists are seen standing next to the crew, grabbing the Israeli flag and breaking it.
The video was later revealed by the haredi website Kol Hazman to have been staged by the reporter.
Reshet TV, while denying the video was fabricated, chose to remove it from its Facebook page on Friday.
"Unfortunately, while the video that was published is not fabricated, in light of the possible harm to the public's feelings, and in light of the comments received, we decided to remove the video immediately,” the broadcaster said.
On Sunday, reported the financial newspaper The Marker, after the video did indeed turn out to be staged, Reshet dismissed both Hochman and his editor.
The broadcaster stressed it is working to ensure such an incident does not occur again and added, "Whether by human error or not, all those concerned express remorse and are working to correct it. Memorial Day, and right before Independence Day, is a time to bring people together.”