Popular Army Radio (Galei Tzahal) pundit Koby Meidan will keep his position after stating that he was "embarassed to be Israeli" following the mass riots on the Israel-Gaza border Friday.
Army Radio Commander Shimon Elkabetz summoned Meidan to explain his words Monday. In their discussion, Elkabetz clarified that Meidan had violated the IDF's code of ethics. "The code of ethics states that the employees of the IDF and its soldiers, as well as all of the permanent participants, and Kobi Meidan is included among them, are obligated to exercise discretion in any statement above any external platform, online or otherwise," said Elkabetz.
He added that "the station's code of ethics is the lighthouse before the camp, and in light of it all of its soldiers and citizens must tread regardless of the nature of their employment."
In his interview with Meidan today, Elkabetz clarified that his original intention after the publication of the post was to remove him from his broadcasting position, but after it had been made clarified that he had not written a single bad word about the IDF soldiers, and following their conversation, he said that he had decided not to remove Meidan.
Meidan said in his conversation with the station commander, "these words were written on my personal Facebook page, and they were not written in the framework of the station's broadcasts. They were written out of pain and concern."
He apologized for the way his post had been interpreted. "We did not write a word against the IDF soldiers who are dear to us all. That was not the intention, and if that was [how it was interpreted], I apologize for it. I understand that my connection with Army Radio, which has been dear to my heart for more than 40 years, requires, even according to the IDF's code of ethics which we received in 2017, requires the exercise of greater discretion in private statements."