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Israel TV news anchor suspended over Netanyahu satire

Kan reportedly says that the host, Dov Gil-Har, should have coordinated the segment ahead of time.

By World Israel News

Amid political tensions in Israel over the corruption allegations against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the question of whether Israelis will go to the polls in another Knesset election in September, an Israeli television news host has found himself suspended from the Kan public broadcasting station for poking fun at the prime minister.

On his evening news show, Dov Gil-Har was speaking to a Kan investigative reporter and analyst who has widely covered the allegations against the prime minister.

Their discussion stemmed from the news that the State Comptroller’s so-called permits committee had turned down, for a third time, Netanyahu’s request for outside funding for his legal defense.

The analyst, Moti Gilat, and Gil-Har began to role play the scenario of the Netanyahu family having to reach into its own pockets.

They joked about demonstrating what it would look like, with Gil-Har reaching into his back pocket to find his wallet. The two also made innuendos about the family’s spending habits.

Various media reports have indicated that Kan is trying to play down Gil-Har’s suspension and remove any question over possible political intervention in taking the action against him.

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Sources have indicated that the suspension will be brief, that Gil-Har is not suspended from hosting Kan radio programs, and that the public broadcaster did not object to the satire, only that he should have coordinated it with the program’s editor ahead of time.