A serious breach of the public trust came about in what is known as the 'Butbul Affair'. Mr. Gabi Butbul, a member of the Shas political party, is also their representative on the Public Council Plenum of the IBA. By law, he is responsible for overseeing the operations of the IBA. As part of his job, Mr. Butbul was outspoken in his criticism of the IBA's director- general, Mr. Motti Kirschenbaum.

In an attempt to hush his legitimate criticism, researchers of the IBA's TV program "Popolitika" were sent to dig up private and public information regarding Mr. Butbul. The latter, when becoming aware of what was happening, complained to the Chairperson of the IBA, Professor Rina Shapira.

Prof. Shapira appointed a committee of three to investigate the issue. The committee concluded that the complaint of Mr. Butbul is not without merit. Seeking direction from the Attorney-General's office, Prof. Shapira was informed that a police investigation of the matter was recommended (1).

The IBA did not let the public know about this whole affair and its shadowy part in it.

Adapted from Professor Eli Pollak, Chairman, Israel's Media Watch,
December 1997

Prof. Rina Shapira, head of the Governing Board of the Israel Broadcasting Authority, released an internal version last week of the findings of her investigation of the Gabi Butboul case.

It will be recalled that the researchers of the popular program Popolitika were used to investigate IBA board member Gabi Butboul and thereby discourage him from leveling criticism against IBA officials.

Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein advocated disciplinary action against Tzvi Lidar, spokesperson for the Israel Broadcasting Authority, and Aharon Goldfinger, producer of Popolitika.

Shapira writes that Goldfinger used one of his investigative staffers to investigate Butboul as if it in the framework of a Popolitika investigation, and later actually told her to testify that her research was done for the show, even though she knew this would be a lie.

Chedva Shpiegel, Likud representative on the IBA Governing Board, who received an abridged copy of the findings: "The findings show violations of all behavioral norms," she said, but said that she would not initiate a hearing on the topic among the Board members. When asked why not, in light of the fact that anti-right-wing media is a topic that has not received much official treatment, she answered: "We're waiting for the decision of the disciplinary committee, which the investigator recommended that Goldfinger face" .

She noted with astonishment that, with only few exceptions, the Israeli media is hardly touching this story. "Amazingly enough, Channel Two, which would seem to be anxious to report on such a story about its competitor, did not report on it, and neither did all the shows having to do with media and the press. Only Haaretz had the courage to cover it, and the other newspapers did not give it any news coverage."

IBA's Director General Kirschenbaum terms opponents "Fascists !!" (IINS News Service -Israel-1998/2/12)

Israel's Media Watch demanded the immediate suspension of Motti Kirschenbaum, the Director General of the state-sponsored Israel Broadcasting Authority, and three other employees, following the release of an investigation report accusing them of "unfit" norms of behavior.

The four, Motti Kirschenbaum, IBA Director General, Yair Stern, Israel Television head, Tzvi Li-Dar, IBA spokesman and Aharon Goldfinger, the producer of the "Popolitika" program, sought to obtain damaging material relating to the personal life of IBA plenum member Gabi Butbol. While Goldfinger must go before an internal disciplinary board, the other three were reprimanded.

The report, authored by Advocate Yosef Richter, was accepted in toto by IBA Chairperson Professor Rina Shapira. The report stemmed from an incident last year when Butbol, an appointed member of the public overview committee of the IBA, sharply criticized Kirschenbaum for disregarding policy guidelines. Kirschenbaum and the others, they explained, sought to "protect" the IBA from overzealous plenum members.

Shapira agreed with the report's findings that the reprimanded employees simply did not understand the role of the public committee, in a state-sponsored media funded almost 85% from license fees paid by the public.

Israel's Media Watch (IMW) pointed out that by their behavior, the four employees acted in a breach of trust. "Their approach and thinking, as the report points out", commented IMW's Director, Yisrael Medad, "shows a contempt for what public broadcasting is all about. They damaged the democratic fabric of society".

IMW renewed its request a day later following an unprecedented outburst by Director-General Kirschenbaum at an IBA Executive Committee meeting on February 9th. Brandishing a letter from the Prime Minister's office, the Ministry thart oversees the IBA's operations, that requested Kirschenbaum not to make any personnel appointments, Kirschenbaum called Committee member Hedva Spiegel a "fascist" and then went on to name IMW's director, Yisrael Medad, a "fascist" also.

IMW demanded that Kirschenbaum be either dismissed or placed on forced holiday immediately.

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