He also lashed out against an unnamed "legal commentator on a public network" and an unnamed professor, both of whom were immediately identifiable to consumers of public Israeli media.
Speaking at the Netanya Academic College today, Rubenstein said that Haaretz, self-billed as the "newspaper for people who think," did the thinking for its readers "Its readers received one-sided and partial information, and put a wall between them and my position." The Attorney-General specifically cited one Haaretz journalist who waged a biting personal campaign against him, even writing once that Rubenstein deserves a prize in honor of Bin Laden and Yigal Amir. "This is ethics-free neo-journalism, in which they forget their main task to bring the facts," Rubenstein said.
Rubenstein said that he was surprised by the extent of the coverage and the intensity of the reporters' feelings against him on recent cases having to do with the police and State Prosecution officials. "This is because of the symbiotic relationship," he explained, "between the journalists and law enforcement officials. The journalists 'pay back' their sources - but this 'give me information and I'll write good things about you' relationship is liable to lead to catastrophe."
Quoting freely from traditional Jewish sources, Rubenstein said that the journalists lived in an "alma d'shikra" - a world of lies - and that one professor's behavior was reminiscent of the words of "Rabbi Shimon ben Shetach, who said in the Babylonian Talmud, 'Be on your guard from the hypocrites, who act like [the evil] Zimri yet request reward as if they were Pinchas.' How ironic, how wretched."
Regarding legal affairs commentator Negbi, Rubenstein said that he "talks about the reign of law all day and every day and in hundreds of commentaries - yet never once, or perhaps one time, did he check the facts before commenting. Yet everyone treats what he says as the words of the living G-d.'"
Rubenstein also said that one young lawyer told him that he had been targeted by certain journalistic circles from the very beginning because of the kippah [skullcap] on his head.
Speaking at the Netanya Academic College today, Rubenstein said that Haaretz, self-billed as the "newspaper for people who think," did the thinking for its readers "Its readers received one-sided and partial information, and put a wall between them and my position." The Attorney-General specifically cited one Haaretz journalist who waged a biting personal campaign against him, even writing once that Rubenstein deserves a prize in honor of Bin Laden and Yigal Amir. "This is ethics-free neo-journalism, in which they forget their main task to bring the facts," Rubenstein said.
Rubenstein said that he was surprised by the extent of the coverage and the intensity of the reporters' feelings against him on recent cases having to do with the police and State Prosecution officials. "This is because of the symbiotic relationship," he explained, "between the journalists and law enforcement officials. The journalists 'pay back' their sources - but this 'give me information and I'll write good things about you' relationship is liable to lead to catastrophe."
Quoting freely from traditional Jewish sources, Rubenstein said that the journalists lived in an "alma d'shikra" - a world of lies - and that one professor's behavior was reminiscent of the words of "Rabbi Shimon ben Shetach, who said in the Babylonian Talmud, 'Be on your guard from the hypocrites, who act like [the evil] Zimri yet request reward as if they were Pinchas.' How ironic, how wretched."
Regarding legal affairs commentator Negbi, Rubenstein said that he "talks about the reign of law all day and every day and in hundreds of commentaries - yet never once, or perhaps one time, did he check the facts before commenting. Yet everyone treats what he says as the words of the living G-d.'"
Rubenstein also said that one young lawyer told him that he had been targeted by certain journalistic circles from the very beginning because of the kippah [skullcap] on his head.