A vacation and a post written by the commentator on ultra-Orthodox affairs for News 10 sparked a rumor mill, as if the respected reporter was about to defect from the media to the other side of the fence - in the service of his friend, Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri.
In an interview he gave to the program 'Starting Things' with Shmuel Ben Atar and Yehuda Schlesinger on the 'Kol Brama' radio station, he was asked about this.
Shmuel Ben Atar: Are you on Channel 10 or are you going to work with Aryeh Deri?
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Avishai Ben-Haim: Channel 10. It's all gossip, I was on a short vacation so people spread rumors, but I'm in journalism and I love journalism and that's important to me. A position of influence is important.
Yehuda Schlesinger: But there's something on your agenda here that Deri is returning, and there's an opportunity here to restore Atara to her former glory, which suits you well.
Avishai Ben-Haim: Let's not get confused, we have differences in views and worldviews, both religiously and in other respects. We are very different.
Shmuel Ben Atar: But you really like Aryeh Deri.
Avishai Ben-Haim: I think the story of Aryeh Deri is an amazing story, I think his contribution to improving the status of Mizrahi Jews in Israel is enormous, including the Machluf by the way, including this step of saying I am Machluf, that we know how many Mizrahi Jews are running away from their name and are afraid of their name, including this symbolic step and the general overflow of oppression of Mizrahi Jews in Israel. In this respect, I think he deserves enormous credit, almost more than anyone else.
Yehuda Schlesinger: But you're not going to work with him.
Avishai Ben-Haim: No, there's no way, these are other worlds, on other issues, opinions are divided in religious opinions, in national opinions...
