Cancel culture has reached the IDF radio station …. By Adina Kutnicki, Israel National News
It was no surprise when the new left-leaning head of Army Radio found an excuse for firing charismatic, but rightist Yaakov Berdugo.
Ever since the left-wing was allowed to get away with silencing the leader of the free world, no less – censoring President Trump via brazen social media entities, in lock-step with so-called mainstream media megaphones in the run-up to the 2020 election and well beyond – the likes of cancel culture became front and center within western societal discourse. Of course, non-democratic inclined leaders (even though colored with a freedom-based veneer) are hardly bothered by such niceties. (See:: The Biden admin; the Bennett/Lapid/Abbas ‘arrangements’, and Trudeau’s party apparatchiks.) Regardless, the foundational underpinnings of the left’s muting of opponents is years in the making, as amply documented and evidenced within the entirety of ‘Can something be done about Facebook blocking?, Israel National News, 10/17/21.
The more the canceling of opposing voices is allowed to metastasize, that is, without swift and proper remedial measures, well, the more insidious the outcome. This assessment is hardly born out of rocket science, or any otherwise high-level, calculated reasoning. Plain and simple, its basis is observable for all to see, if so inclined. Devised through years of boring within civil society, the heavy-lifting is exercised by a myriad of similarly aligned anti-democratic foot soldiers. As intended, its demoralizing effects reverberate throughout civil society. This outcome, to a more or less degree, is irrespective of locale.
In fact, it is not for nothing that the blessed ‘FREEDOM CONVOY’ was initiated by Canadian truckers – average, blue-collar folks who are often mocked by so-called elitists; those who couldn’t recognize a hard day’s work if it smacked them upside the head. Spreading like wildfire across Canada and into the U.S. – mainly, stopping the flow of goods from transiting across the critically-positioned Ambassador Bridge and other Canadian-U.S. supply-chain entry points – it is a direct knock-on effect to a range of pent-up frustrations. Between either being totally ignored, marginalized, ridiculed, and, for the most part, dictated to by radical left-wing entities, they said: Enough is enough. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Tellingly, Europeans are getting in on the (blockading) charge. GO truckers!
Which brings this seemingly non-applicable analysis straight back to Israel’s doorstep.
Always mimicking their American counterparts, the left-wing within Israel’s political and self-proclaimed elitist echo chambers wants to control the information we receive. Enjoying mirror-held amplification addresses – be it via the media, legal, academic and assorted cultural institutions – it is a miracle that any right-wing voices are heard at all. Much thanks should be given to Israel National News via its tenacious staff and supporters, as they lead the nationalist charge.
And this is precisely why no one should have been surprised to read ‘Right-wing Israeli lawmakers boycott army radio, demand its closure‘, Israel National News, 2/10/22. As excerpted below,
“Right-wing lawmakers launched a boycott Thursday evening of Israel’s army radio, following the dismissal of a popular pro-Netanyahu commentator.
“Leaders of the Likud, Religious Zionist Party, Shas, and United Torah Judaism issued a joint announcement Thursday, following consultations among right-wing lawmakers, that the four parties will boycott Galei Tzahal, the mouthpiece of the Israel’s military and one of the top radio stations in the country.
“The move comes following Galei Tzahal’s announcement Thursday afternoon that Yaakov Bardugo, a right-wing commentator and noted supporter of Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu, had been dismissed from his evening broadcast slot.
“Netanyahu excoriated Galei Tzahal over the decision, tweeting that the move was part of a larger effort by the Left to silence right-wing voices ….
Yaakov Bardugo’s prime evening slot was broadcast together with Yaron Vilenski for several years with consistently top ratings. Berdugo is a convincing and talented speaker, backing up his opinions with a broad command of the facts. He is against the current govenment and does not hide his views or mince words. According to right wing sources, as soon as Minister Benny Gantz appointed a temporary head of the station whose views are left wing, right leaning heads began to roll and everyone realized Berdugo was on the list for the guillotine. Berdugo himself said: “Yesterday I was fired from broadcasting the evening news on Galei Tzahal. The program has unusually high ratings compared to other shows on the station and to competing stations. It seems that in Israel of 2022, that is not a criterion. This is a political move by people who are afraid and want to silence all criticism.”
Tellingly, when a nationalist leadership holds the reins (though hardly without its flaws), it would be unthinkable for any left-wing or Arabist-obsessed voice to be dismissed. No doubt, the hue and cry elicited by the country’s minority left-wing – yes, an excessively powerful post-Zionist front – would never stand for it.
Even so, many English speakers wrongfully believe that Galei Tzahal, a/k/a the “mouthpiece of the IDF”, leans to the right. This thinking is because the military’s raison d’etre is imbued by Zionist ethos, and is a reflection of a majority-held ideology as the people’s army. Not so simple.
For many years, the IDF’s top-tier leadership have exhibited left-leaning tendencies – with full-blown outings when they enter the political sphere. They know where their fortunes lie, in a manner of speaking.
Not only that, this writer became privy to certain underlying currents and pressure points – often playing out within the hierarchy of Israeli power centers – most especially, in relation to the media. Enter: Galei Tzahal.
This up-close peering was the result of a “blood brother” relationship with a true Israeli hero – who was well known throughout the country and beyond the nation’s borders. Indeed, its basis is best described by this writer within ‘Israel’s Hero, My Hero‘, Israel National News, 12/2008, upon Tsafrir Ronen’s, z”l, untimely passing.
As a former sayeret matkal (General Staff Reconnaissance Unit) commando, a prolific documentary filmmaker and a founder of the Nahalal Forum, to name a few of his accomplishments, Tsafrir was a totally devoted defender of the land and people of Israel. An individual with great vision and a sweeping understanding of Jewish history, he knew instinctively that the war being waged against Israel had many dimensions. As a warrior he understood well the military dynamics, but it was his visceral and incisive understanding of the media war being waged against us that caused him to stand head and shoulders above the rest. As the ex-CEO of the Israel History Channel, he knew what needed to be done media-wise.
Aside from that, he was a main Communications and Media advisor to the Rabin government. He resigned his post, upon the signing of the (catastrophic) Oslo Accords. A passionate secular Zionist, Tsafrir Ronen, z”l, wanted no part of it. This is a vast understatement, as per what occupied and underlined his efforts for the remainder of his life.
This writer was a very close confidante of Tsafrir Ronen, z”l. A main collaborator on what would have been this humble man’s magnum opus, it can be stated with absolute assurance, that is, re Israel’s media fronts (often intersecting with the political underbelly), most particularly, the leanings of Galei Tzahal: What lies underneath Galei Tzahal is not what it seems. It is more akin to a smoke and mirrors show; that which always leans left-ward, but with a bone thrown towards a nationalist presence, that is, when a right-wing PM sits at the helm. Nothing more, nothing less.
Hence, the shameless firing (euphemistically termed, the “dismissal”) of Yaakov Bardugo must be understood in the above terms, disquieting as it is.
Adina Kutnicki is an investigative journalist, living in Israel since 2008. Her work concentrates on militant Islamic jihad and its western knock-on effects. She is the co-author of BANNED: How Facebook Enables Militant Islamic Jihad, She blogs at: Adina Kutnicki, A Zionist & Conservative Blog (www.adinakutnicki.com).
For more information on Adina Kutnicki visit her blog or read her full bio here.
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