Greer Fay Cashman
Jerusalem Post, May 27, 2024
“Israel is the only country in the world that has to defend itself in the court of public opinion – around the clock.”
Before he became a government spokesman, Eylon Levy participated in anti-government demonstrations. As a government spokesman, he became a media star because the combination of his quick mind, glib tongue, and expressive eyebrows appealed to English-speaking people around the world.
But then his past political activity came to haunt him, and as good a job as he was doing for Israel, it wasn’t sufficiently impressive in some circles for his past to be ignored.
Of course, it would have been more to Israel’s advantage if the people who dismissed him had demonstrated greater faith in the national slogan, ‘Together we will win.’
But Levy is not the least bit bitter because he can now be completely honest. Not that he wasn’t honest before – at least in matters that he believes to be true, but Israeli journalists frequently have to report on issues and incidents about which they have doubts – and it’s beginning to irk them. Only a few days ago, KAN 11’s political and diplomatic reporter Gili Cohen, in an angry monologue, declared that it was time to tell the truth.
Finding balance
A major problem that has confronted Israeli journalists for 75 years is finding a happy medium between patriotism and professionalism.
If Israel did not face an existential threat on many fronts, Israeli journalists could afford to be less circumspect.
But when national security is at stake, they have to censor themselves and repeat material contained in government press releases in which there are sins of either omission or commission.
Levy did not stay idle following his dismissal. He’s busy interviewing and broadcasting on his podcast State of a Nation, which is a mix of politics, news, and rebuttals of lies told about Israel by antisemites and ignoramuses.
But Levy isn’t content with just what he’s doing on the podcast; in his view, that is simply not enough.
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