Q: I read in detail your article last week about the credibility of the media and the I.D.F. spokesmen. In principle, I agree with most of what you wrote, Rabbi, but is this all you had to say after such serious violence? Is this the way a Rabbi should behave, ignoring such dangerous criminal acts, and instead, dealing with the credibility of the media and the I.D.F. spokesmen?
A: Yes, this is the case. In my opinion, the actions of the high-ranking commanders and the media, who spread harsh lies and false accusations against the 'settlers', are immeasurably more serious than the unruliness of the youth.
The media's exaggeration, which was meant to malign the 'settlers', is as serious as an outright ie.
After the overstated description of the "pogrom", of the "settler's horrible violence against the soldiers" and all the talk about the commanding officers "who were nearly killed by blocks thrown at their heads", unexpectedly, a great miracle occurred: not one soldier was injured, and even the officer who was "hit in the head with the block" escaped without a scratch!
Besides spreading false accusations being more severe, the fact that it was done by adults and responsible people, such as the General Commanding Officer, I.D.F. spokesmen, and the media, who get paid from our taxes, and are required to fulfill their duties honestly, makes the sin even graver.
Those youth, the majority of whom are not 'hilltop youth', but rather young people from surrounding communities, are Israel's cream of the crop. In the future, they will serve in the army as outstanding soldiers, and raise exemplary families.
In such a situation, when libels are being spread, the only thing that needs to be done is to reject them outright. And if someone thinks that now is the time to educate the youth via the media, at the very least, let him do it by means of media channels that the youth themselves find trustworthy, such as Arutz 7, Besheva Hebrew weekly, the Shabbat pamphlets given out in synagogues, and not in those mainstream media that fan the fires of libel.
At the recent Media Conference in Eilat, a survey, whose respondents did not include Israeli Arabs, and that was done for the conference, showed that 85% of the general public do not trust the media. What should the residents of Judea and Samaria say?
The Connection between the Media and Reality
Q: In last week's article, you criticized the media. True, their coverage is slanted, but in general, they report events accurately, and we should pay attention to their criticism.
A: Anyone who believes that the media reports events accurately has fallen into their trap. Reality is complex and multi-faceted; the decision which event is important and which is not, determines what the media presents to the public, and it is very far from describing the situation accurately.
If the Media were controlled by the Hareidim
Let's assume, for example, that the media was controlled by the hareidi-religious, and its journalistic magnifying glass was directed towards the stories about the youth who spend hours drinking in the pubs of Tel Aviv and the surrounding neighborhoods, and where at some point just about every night there are drunken brawls. Occasionally, those who have had "one too many" hit each other; sometimes with sticks or metal chains; other times, they break bottles over each other's heads; and every now and then, they even knife each other. And when the police arrive – every so often they even beat-up the cops. This involves a certain percentage of Israel's secular youth. Every year, some are killed in these drunken brawls, and the number of people killed in car accidents due to drunken driving is much greater.
Let's assume that each radio and television station and newspaper had a special journalist to cover this story, similar to today's media who have special correspondents for "events in the territories", and the journalists, of course, would compete amongst themselves, who could bring the juiciest story of violence to their readers, listeners, or viewers. Every now and then, by the laws of probability, one of the boys would turn out to be the son of a Knesset member, minister, CEO, professor, or author.
The journalists would hint about who it was, eventually the person's name would be publicized, the flames of public outcry would reach the skies, and the entire media would break out into a wild, self-righteous dance. Of course, the reporters would always ask the secular Jews to respond and apologize for the "wild thorns" growing in their flowerbeds, which have already become forests, and the hareidi announcers would rebuke every secular interviewee who was not willing to admit that significant failures exist within the secular education system.
Correspondent for Secular Family Disintegration
Every media outlet would also maintain a correspondent for family matters, whose job is to cover all the unfaithfulness and divorces amongst the famous Members of Knesset, business executives, professors, doctors, poets, and authors. His job would include interviewing the betraying wives and their abandoned husbands, or the other way around, to listen to their allegations, and to sigh over the bitter results of the secular education system.
He would follow, with deep concern, the pain of the children whose parents divorced, how they divide their time between father and mother, how they get along with their father's new girlfriend, who, due to her tender age, could be one of their friends.
Secular moralists would complain about the media, claiming it harms the rights of the individual, but the hareidi journalists would counter-claim that the public's right to know is greater, because it is extremely important to investigate the failures of secular education; and, unfortunately, there's no choice – when a person is a candidate for a senior position, his level of morality must be made public.
In time, a secular 'Takana' forum would be established, dealing with inner-soul searching, and attempting to get rid of individuals who are liable to give the overall secular public a bad name in the media, due to family problems.[Takana is the religious forum that is supposed to investigate with discretion allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior among the religious in high positions, ed.}
And of course, all the hareidi journalists and announcers would make comparisons between the lofty speech of secular public figures about 'honoring women', and the way they behave in their own lives.
For example, if the current President of Israel spoke about the 'exclusion of women' from the public scene, the entire media would delve into his shaky relationship with his late wife – so shaky that she refused to live with him in the Presidential residence. And if one of the ministers, or the Prime Minister himself, were to rebuke the hareidi public about their disrespect for women, the hareidi media would investigate the degree of their past and present loyalty to their wives, and the results would in all probability be appalling.
Of course, a number of righteous individuals would rise-up, claiming that this is slander and it is forbidden to humiliate heads of State, but the hareidi media would answer them saying that the public has the right to know who their leaders are.
Journalists covering the field of health would eagerly report, in depth, the sad cases of 16 year-old girls who perform abortions – but in this case, without mentioning names, as a result of the girls being underage. Nevertheless, due to the wild competition between the journalists, their parents' names would be leaked periodically.
Some secular people would complain about the media, asking why they refuse to report about all the wonderful endeavors in which the secular public plays a major role, such as scientific achievements, advanced industry, the Philharmonic Orchestra, and works of culture. And not one person would listen to them.
On the contrary, the radio and T.V. announcers would continue to preach to them, and at every opportunity, they would find children of the secular personalities who had become religious, and, for a smidgen of dubious publicity, were willing to come on air and publicly condemn all the ugly phenomena in the secular educational system.
Wave of Repentance – Despite the Media
And do you know what would result? A good number of hareidim would then become secular, because, if the sicknesses of the immoral secularism are criticized to such an extent, and yet, it still survives – there must be something to it!
Currently, however, the situation is exactly the opposite: The journalists are secular leftists, and therefore they report about the 'settler rampages', disputes amongst the hareidim, and about the 'exclusion of women'.
And despite all this, a huge wave of people returning to traditional Judaism is sweeping the country, the communities in Judea and Samaria continue to grow, and the majority of the Israeli public admires their residents.
Consequently, I am not concerned about the media's criticism, and I don't consider it as truly reflecting public opinion. At the very most, they manage to create a certain transparent, shallow awareness amongst the public.
Media Influence
True, the media does have short-term influence, and we must learn how to minimize its damage. Occasionally, it can even be used. However, this can be done only after realizing the media's low level and its' negative orientation towards the Jewsih residents of Judea and Samaria and the hareidim, and to understand that when we are dealing with libels against us – the only thing that needs to be done, is to counter attack.
And since quite a few spokesmen from Judea and Samaria do not understand this, instead of condemning the libels, they try to rationalize and publicly confess, and every time they are interviewed, a media attack occurs.