1.
The investigation that aired on the program "Uvda" on Keshet 12 about the connections of Hani Levis, the powerful woman in the Prime Minister's Office, was difficult for me to watch.
I have a lot of 'Hani hours'. I loved talking to her, she had an interesting perspective on politics. And she also had a heart of gold. She was all heart. Even when she was angry, and once she even yelled at me (I don't remember why) - it was out of kindness and caring.
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The main drive that motivated Hani A.H. in her career path (because she also had a family life and devotion to her children and so on and so forth) was what she saw in her mind as 'protecting Bibi'. And in any case, also protecting 'his wife'.
""What is 'Sarah'?" she would scold me. "Tell me, lady.".
2.
Shortly after Netanyahu failed to form a government, directly into the arms of "We were able to form a government" of Naftali Bennett and the alternative Yair Lapid, Hani began to feel that things were "creaking" in everything related to her. She continued to receive a salary, but something was not working. Suddenly, she was not allowed to be around Netanyahu, and someone made sure to change the key to her room in "Mezudat Ze'ev.".
In the background, Hani has been dealing with cancer for years. The disease is getting worse, the doctors are not giving her a good prognosis. She went through the Corona period with great fear, all she needed was to contract the disease, with her weakened immune system. But even after we all abandoned the masks, she continued.
The baldness and the mask were the first thing I saw when Chani approached. But her face shone as long as she was close to the "Prime Minister." And to his wife. You should have seen with what sacred fear she would say the words "Prime Minister.".
I didn't write about the expulsion. I wouldn't have been able to publish what was whispered at the time and what the Likudniks on the ground knew. Even after her death, I buried the story, I didn't want to delve into the reasons that led to this sad saga. I knew the reason. Many Likudniks knew.
Some of them also caused it.
3.
On Saturday night, I sat in on the 'Avri and Shreki' panel at Ulpan Keshet 12 and was asked about the story. In the video, you can see how hard I try not to tell the reason that led to Hani's removal. Although perhaps explaining the reason could have shed light and removed the blame from Sara and Netanyahu.
Sitting next to me was journalist Mazal Mualem, who said what I had refrained from saying. She said that there were quite a few people in the field who were angry with Hani, claiming that she was alienating them, that she was alienating too many people. There were also those who repeatedly slammed Netanyahu: "Because of her, you lost power.".
I don't judge. I don't know who was right. It doesn't interest me either. Hani was and will remain in my memory as the best woman I knew, the most devoted to the Netanyahus, the one who wants to do good the most. Even if she was wrong.
4.
The investigation by 'Uvda' is an excellent piece of journalistic work by Ilana Dayan and by someone who was until recently part of the Channel 13 news team - Sefi Ovadia. I have known for a long time that there is someone in Hani's circle who is planning to publish the correspondence from her phone. I also know the reason for this. For obvious reasons, I don't want to go into detail.
Either way, there are plenty of other correspondences, which could provide plenty of material for more 'fact' programs. And the viewers? They love gossip, after all. It's a fact.
But one thing is clear from the investigation: Netanyahu himself had nothing to do with what was described, he was not part of it, in any case there is no proof that he knew. Apart from one statement by Yonatan Urich that "the boss is aware" of something. Either he was or he wasn't. The 'boss' himself was not quoted in any way.
You can disagree about the way his wife Sarah decided to "fight for him," but for her it's a life project. In her mind's eye, she and her family have been persecuted for years, and she must do everything in her power to protect them. You can disagree about the way she colors the act of defense, but she is imbued with purpose.
Hani helped her with all of this with all her loving heart. No one forced her, she did it with great joy.
5.
As I said on the program 'Avri and Sharki', I remember that night when Sara asked Hani to come to Caesarea to drive her to the 'citadel' - "to see her husband." Hani was then in a very difficult period in terms of her illness, after a period when she had already been removed from the Prime Minister's entourage - and yet, when she was called upon to do the task, she carried it out without thinking twice. In my opinion, and as I knew her, it simply gave her more days to live. It filled her up, it was the battery that recharged her.
Even when she waited for Bush for over an hour, even when Sarah disappointed her and told her that Netanyahu was finally coming home and she was being released to her home in Jaffa, she didn't regret it. She simply internalized, perhaps for the first time, that "this is it" and nothing more. By the way, I remember that period. She continued to help "the lady." 'That' trip wasn't the last in the chain.
This was Hani, may God have mercy on her. That's how I will remember her. A woman of dedication, with a heart of gold. Many times there were people around her who told her, "They're taking advantage of you" and "Leave it," but she simply waved them away like one would wave away a bothersome fly, and continued on her way. She once told me about it. But with a smile. As if to say, what do they even understand?.
Yes, bosses fire people. It happens. In the commercial world, as well as in politics. It was very difficult to fire a woman like Hani. There were a lot of hesitations before this action, which I even remember behind the scenes. But in the end the deed was done.
It is possible that after her death, a little sadness arose in retrospect. Perhaps they should have waited 'a little longer', to let her say goodbye to the world with a smile on her lips and not after she was taken away. But that is the wisdom of hindsight. Everyone hoped that Hani would once again overcome the terrible disease, as she had done more than once in the past, while surprising the best doctors.
Hani Levis, may God bless you, I will forever remember you as an amazing woman.
