What don't we know about Yinon Magal? • The 'Patriots' host was a guest on 'Story Lila' and this is what came out

April 22, 2025   

'The Patriots' host Yinon Magal was a guest on the 'Night Stories' program hosted by Yehuda Schlesinger, and answered a particularly long series of questions about his personal and media life. • Who is better - Barak Sari or Ben Caspit, where did Eldad Yaniv go and the relationship with Benny Gantz. 

Yehuda: Yinon Magal, hello to you.

Yinon: Good evening.

Judah: What's going on, prince?

Yinon: Thank God, what's up?

Yehuda: How fun that you came, that you stayed.

Yinon: That's right.

Yehuda: What did you do in the last half hour between each other? Probably on the phone, right? You answered…

Yinon: No, it's not over.

Yehuda: It's not over. Okay, celebration. Okay, you're with me, you're free, you took off your tie, you took off that buttoned-up shirt, you put on a jacket. We're starting with the questionnaire, ready?

Yinon: Go ahead and do it.

Yehuda: Come on, let's get started. Who should light a torch?

Yinon: Who should light a beacon? Well, I don't know.

Yehuda: Good question. Who is under no circumstances allowed to light a torch?

Yinon: To Sycamore Bresler.

Yehuda: Were you ever offered to lead the ceremony?

Yinon: No.

Yehuda: Would you like to lead the ceremony?

Yinon: Yes.

Yehuda: Okay. Preferred partner, Barak Sari or Ben Caspit?

Yinon: Son.

Yehuda: Walla! Hello, Barak Sari.

Yinon: He knows that, Barak, he knows. Not that I'm comparing, but Ben is the PA, like the Palestinian Authority, you know.

Yehuda: Not that you're comparing, but he's the Palestinian Authority. Yes, yes, yes, step on that, Yinon Magal, great fun. Well, by the way, you know what the question is that people keep asking?

Yinon (regarding the previous question): He is the Houthis.

Yehuda: Good, good, you survived that. I wanted to say Hamas, but how do you say it on your show, they don't say it. Okay, come on, let's continue. Who would you take with you to a deserted island? Boogie, Barak or Olmert?

Yinon: Barak, because he's such a bastard that you can steal horses with him, Olmert is crazy, and Boogie is such a stuck-up guy. Barak is, like, a smart man, you can talk to him, and he's stolen.

Yehuda: Good, I thought you would say, it's a patrol brotherhood, General Staff.

Yinon: Also a patrol brotherhood.

Yehuda: Nice, look, you didn't even notice. Well, who would you sit down for compote with? Shikma, Redman or Halutz?

Yinon: Redman. He seems to me the one you can, like, laugh with. Shikma is, in my opinion, not in focus. A pioneer too, like, his time has passed, his sacrifice is useless. Redman, in my opinion, is in a lot of plays, and like, you can laugh with him a little.

Yehuda: I understand, I completely understand the point. Okay, come on, let's run fast. The biggest instigator in Israel is...

Yinon: The biggest instigator in Israel, I think, is Ronen Tzur.

Yehuda: Wow, who is the most dangerous media person in Israel?

Yinon: The most dangerous media person in Israel, Guy Peleg maybe, Amnon Abramovich maybe.

Yehuda: Okay, nice. Who is the most important media person in Israel?

Yinon: Most important? The most important media person in Israel… I don't give praise to people on competing channels.

Yehuda: I understand. Okay, great, I thought you would fail here, I don't want to give myself grades, but great.

Yinon: Schlesinger, in my opinion.

Yehuda: No, I'm not sure. Wait, give us another precise name for the promo. Who is the most important media person in Israel?

Yinon: Me.

Yehuda: No, just, just. Nice. How many times do you talk to the Prime Minister a week?

Yinon: One roof.

Yehuda: Wow, once a week with the Prime Minister? Not bad.

Yinon: Yes, the whole story is greatly exaggerated, far beyond its dimensions.

Yehuda: By the way, in relation to commentators or other media figures, what, is that high? Is that low?

Yinon: I think it's relatively high, I think, but I don't know what he does with others.

Yehuda: It's like you're already at the level of the legalists, you say to him, "Hello Bibi, how are you?"

Yinon: Absolutely not.

Yehuda: No, with respect, the Prime Minister and such.

Yinon: Yes, sir, I call him sir.

Yehuda: Oh, you're welcome.

Yinon: Sure. Good. He's not my friend, we don't have a friendly relationship, and I, you know, we have a professional relationship for that matter.

Yehuda: Oh, he's not asking you, like, what's going on with the Patriots? I saw the Patriots.

Yinon: He can say, like that, he can say, I saw you say that or all sorts of things, but come on, Bibi is not some kind of thief either.

Yehuda: Isn't Bibi a man of theft? Okay, I'll take that with me. Well, is there a politician who doesn't talk to you?

Yinon: Full, clear, full. And that we don't talk to each other. Just in terms of, you know, full from the left, no one from the left...

Yehuda: No, let's say, Lapid, I can imagine not talking to you, right?

Yinon: You know, what's not talking? We're not talking. There's no channel, there's no channel.

Yehuda: No, but for example, Benny Gantz, can he pick up the phone for you?

Yinon: Benny Gantz, I met him at the airport a week or two ago, and we talked, of course we talked, I told him to come to the Patriots, not a statue, there is a direction, there is this.

Yehuda: Nice. Okay, so he'll come to the Patriots?

Yinon: My son, there's some kind of... when I say this in Patriots, they get annoyed with me, that there's this kind of antipathy in him, you know, he's a man you can talk to.

Yehuda: I got it. Okay, let's talk a little about the Patriots. Who is the most snarky panelist?

Yinon: Well, really.

Yehuda: Yes, yes, anyway.

Yinon: What happened to you? What, you're stolen.

Yehuda: Who was the panelist who came up with the most?

Yinon: Go ahead, next.

Yehuda: Who desperately needs applause?

Yinon: Me.

Yehuda: Who would you like to add to the Patriots?

Yinon: I don't know.

Yehuda: One, throw in a name, let's say you say, Come on, turn on the studio for me.

Yinon: Ben Caspit.

Yehuda: Good. From one to ten, how much do you miss Eldad Yaniv?

Yinon: Eight, seven, eight.

Yehuda: What happened to him, by the way? Where did he go?

Yinon: He doesn't answer my messages.

Yehuda: Really? You haven't spoken since?

Yinon: Listen, the left crushed him, killed him, and he collapsed, collapsed, winked, and he simply disappeared.

Yehuda: Wow, come on, that's a story. One day we'll expand.

Yinon: It's not that he doesn't exist, he does, he just couldn't stand the pressure.

Yehuda: Okay, let's elaborate a little on the part we wanted to show you:

(Shown is his imitation of Eretz Nehederet:) "Oh, oh, oh, good evening, good evening, great joy, which is a miracle, a time of miracles. The people of Israel are alive, we celebrate 400 days, and then the redemption began. A wonderful time, a truly wonderful time, and we have a beautiful program, let's say hello to the panel, the Patriots' Panel.".

Yehuda: Yes, what did you think?

Yinon: Cool.

Yehuda: Did you like it?

Yinon: Yes.

Yehuda: Are you offended?

Yinon: From what?

Yehuda: Okay. Come on, let's move forward a little, let's leave politics, Yardena Arazi or Ofra Haza.

Yinon: Ofra Haza.

Yehuda: Eyal Golan or Zohar Argov.

Yinon: Zohar.

Judah: Are you Israel the first or Israel the second?

Yinon: I am the first Israel in my heart with the second Israel, and in fact part of the second Israel.

Yehuda: Nice, a true friend, someone said a true friend of the second Israel.

Yinon: No, he said that about Amit Segal, I think.

Yehuda: Nice, right, thank you.

Yinon: I'm not a true friend, I'm part of the second Israel. Mainly because I'm a dos.

Yehuda: Who would you like to interview?

Yinon: You're Bibi, let him come to the Patriots.

Yehuda: Who is not allowed to be interviewed?

Yinon: I don't know.

Yehuda: Which expression annoys you more, Bibiste or Shofar?

Yinon: Shofar.

Yehuda: Why, by the way?

Yinon: Bibist just doesn't annoy me.

Yehuda: Okay, so the shofar annoys you?

Yinon: No, but like, I have no problem with the babysitter. Shofar, it's funny to me that every freshman tells me, you're a journalist, you're not a journalist, you know.

Yehuda: Okay, come on, who needs to apologize to you?

Yinon: There are people.

Yehuda: Still, who? One name?

Yinon: They know.

Yehuda: Who do you need to apologize to, Yinon Magal?

Yinon: I don't know, whoever I need, I ask, I, you know. Here, I ask for forgiveness. Whoever I need to ask for forgiveness from, I ask for forgiveness from, I ask for forgiveness from.

Yehuda: Nice. Well, how many offers have you received for reality shows?

Yinon: A few, not much.

Yehuda: Who is the most interesting?

Yinon: None of them interested me.

Yehuda: Is there a reality show you would like to participate in but haven't been offered?

Yinon: Oh, I was on a reality show actually. I was on Cattus there, on The Masked Singer.

Yehuda: If you weren't in the media, you would be...

Yinon: In politics.

Yehuda: Okay, guilty pleasure (something a person enjoys – but is ashamed of)?

Yinon: Listen, I have a guilty pleasure that I will never tell.

Yehuda: Come on, now you have to, you can't lift without it.

Yinon: Absolutely not, absolutely not.

Judah: In what world?

Yinon: In the world of grooming and hygiene.

Yehuda: I don't know where my head is going, but go ahead, give it to me, okay?

Yinon: No, no, I won't say.

Yehuda: Okay, eyebrow hair removal? Something?

Yinon: No, I won't say, I won't say.

Yehuda: I understand, okay. A tip for a relationship: Magal dosage?

Yinon: I really need to give relationship tips. Come on, we just celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary.

Yehuda: Oh, thank God, without a bad eye. Now, especially for this, say hello to your wife who is leaving now… No, just like that, don't you think? Come on, we are the remnants of the Patriots, there is no money for production. Well, and finally, Yinon Magal, what don't we know about Yinon Magal?

Yinon: What we don't know about Yinon Magal is that overall he had a complex life, that on a daily basis he is a much more withdrawn and reserved person, and that when you see him in the media, he is performing in front of the camera or in front of the microphone, and that in fact he is two different characters, one in everyday life and one on stage.

Yehuda: Wow, come on, that's beautiful, that's really, really beautiful. Yani outside, are you a snob and a slob and don't say hello to people?

Yinon: No, on the contrary.

Yehuda: No, when you're not at the show, when you say you're off.

Yinon: Many people think that when they see me, everything is shiny, successful, wonderful, and full of confidence, and that's it, and life is much more complex.