Dozens of journalists from the media have signed a petition in which they warn against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's conduct towards journalists and the media.
""These statements are a serious warning sign and evidence of an atmosphere in which, God forbid, someone might decide to take this smear campaign to the level of physical harm," the journalists warned.
Among the journalists can be found media personnel from Channel 2, Channel 10, Haaretz, Walla, and even 'Israel Today' - derisively known in leftist circles as "Bibiton.".
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But from the impressive list, a central group in the Israeli media is conspicuous by its absence – the ultra-Orthodox journalists.
""I may be the last of Netanyahu's supporters," senior Haredi commentator Yaakov Rivlin tells Haredim 10. "But the fact that none of the petition's initiators even thought of turning to Haredi journalism proves that Bibi is right: This is a closed and arrogant establishment that lives in its own bubble.".
Rivlin points to another case in which the Haredi media is not 'considered': President Reuven Rivlin's trip to India.
""The president's entourage consistently does not approach ultra-Orthodox journalists to cover the trip. The president's spokeswoman claimed that she sent an invitation to the ultra-Orthodox media, but neither bears nor a forest.".
According to Rivlin, the Haredi media simply is not 'counted' in the general media. It is preoccupied with itself and takes care to protect its loyalists: "I have never seen petitions from journalists about serious attacks against public figures. When this happens in the heart of the caste, when Raviv Drucker is attacked - they are alarmed. When people live their own lives, they should not be surprised that Netanyahu is rising in the polls.".
• Would the ultra-Orthodox journalists who are considered Netanyahu's supporters have signed?
""I believe that some of them certainly are. We must remember that the Haredi journalists are not instinctive supporters of Netanyahu, it's just that at the end of the day our fate is tied to his fate. Lapid, if he were prime minister, might join forces with elements hostile to us, Netanyahu is willing to do anything to secure power.
""Sometimes supporting a law against us but also supporting a law for us. Any other alternative, in terms of our interests, could be worse.".
Yaakov Rivlin (left) with commentator Avi Blum. Photo: Eli Kovin
• Do you think Netanyahu's recent comments are relevant?
""When you can't deal with the facts, the best way is to blur them. Netanyahu has been hurled very harsh things at him in recent months. Even if ten percent of them are true, we are facing a problem.".
""But Netanyahu has pushed the media into the leftist category, and the investigations remain in the fringe and perhaps among Bibi's opponents, not his hardcore. In general, Netanyahu is more afraid of Bennett and Amona than Raviv Drucker...""
• So Bibi can sleep peacefully?
""For Netanyahu, Drucker is like a mosquito buzzing in your ear. When you throw a lot of mud, something might get caught. The pressure he creates might motivate the police to investigate.".
""Without his incessant interrogations, the police would abandon the investigation. Similarly, in the early 1990s, when the incessant interrogations against then-Interior Minister Aryeh Deri by journalist Moti Gilat were published in Yedioth Ahronoth, the police were forced to begin investigating.".
