Yaara Zred in an interview with ice: “Channel 13 is very radical – it will not survive”

In an in-depth interview, which examines the path of one of the most prominent journalists in the industry, Yara Zard tells why she didn’t believe that she belonged in the world of media, what is the secret of Channel 14’s success, is the kidnapping deal right for the State of Israel at any cost, and does Prime Minister Netanyahu have a part in the failure October 7?

“We felt that our voice was not heard in the studios”

Did you always know you would work in the field of communication?

“No, the truth is that in the second year of my degree, I realized that I would not be part of the media. Media that is very, very one-sided, very niche in my view. I grew up in a home that consumes a lot of current affairs, but the things that appeared in the Israeli media always did not match the worldview of my family And it was always felt, that is, we always felt that our voice was not heard in the studios, until the right-wing media channels arrived.

And so, when suddenly the situation came that I was integrated into a right-wing channel, at first radio, then television, it was a significant leap change for me. It was literally seeing a revolution being forged. Of course it was still in its infancy and I didn’t call it a revolution yet, but suddenly I realized that there was an event here that would change reality. As soon as there is a right-wing voice in the media and of course as soon as I had the opportunity, I was happy to join. I didn’t think I would get to what I got, and God willing, I just bless it.

What motivated you to continue and advance in the field despite the many difficulties and challenges inherent in it?

“So, first of all, this is the mission. I came from a home that felt it had no voice and no mouth. The more I entered this world, the more I realized that there is a real mission here, to raise a voice that is not usually heard in the Israeli media, and it is a voice that, according to the mandate map in the State of Israel, represents the majority of the people.

It’s really a sense of mission, it’s not just right and left. It is also Judaism, traditionalism, the Jewish history that is reflected in a different way in the other studios, a place for the religious society. In addition, it is important to constantly gain more knowledge. Whether it’s from sources, whether it’s historical knowledge, in order to be the most accurate, the most serious, the most relevant, and really bring a discourse that will change on Channel 14.”

“First of all, it is truly an unapologetic, patriotic, Zionist, Israeli Jewish discourse, which is not afraid to say the things as they are said in the studios. That is, which is not ashamed to speak about Judaism with pride and give value to Judaism whether it is fasts, whether it is holidays – to emphasize it.

A holiday is not just food recipes, a holiday is a significant Jewish story and in this respect this is what we bring. At the level of ideology, if there is a certain narrative that we know from the deportation period, from the Oslo Accords and hundreds of very significant points in Israeli history.

There was one conversation that resonated before there was channel 20, before there were other channels, a conversation that resonated at a crazy volume. In one opinion with small nuances but the opinion is the same opinion. Suddenly a channel arrived that allows itself to say something else, that allows itself to talk about right-wing ideology – this is an ideology with a vision.

There is criticism that this is a Likud propaganda channel, of the ruling party headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. What do you think of that criticism?

|When you are sure of what you are doing, you don’t really care about criticism. There is constructive criticism and you need to address it and you need to listen to it, and there is criticism that is dismissive and mocking and not serious. It’s a criticism that tries to diminish us and make us disappear. It’s not factual, it’s personal and that’s a criticism I don’t address. It’s been years since I got used to this thing, it’s just not interesting. Whoever makes a legitimate criticism that deserves a discussion, then of course I’m always in favor of a discussion.”

Looking at Channel 13, Channel 14’s competitor, what do you think of the struggle of News 13 employees against the appointment of Yulia Shmalov Berkovich to the position of CEO?

“I never think that Channel 13 is a competitor of Channel 14. It is a channel that is no longer relevant, and I am not sure that it will survive for many years because they have reached extreme levels. They have become a very radical channel and this is something that the public condemns in my eyes. We will see that in the coming years, it is simply a channel that is already becoming irrelevant.

I’m not referring to the story with the CEO, I’m only referring to the matter that they came to court and tried to find justice in court. First, they simply asked the court to intervene in a private business, I think it’s a scandal. I think it’s ridiculous that the court intervened and I think it’s In the end it will blow up in their face.”

“Other studios have consistently turned Netanyahu into a refusenik and the real refusenik is Yahya Sinvar”

One year after the October 7th events, 101 hostages are still being held captive by Hamas and are waiting to be returned home. Throughout the last year, we discussed the question of whether the government is doing everything for the return of the abductees and whether it is willing to pay any price for their return home. Do you think Israel should approve a kidnapping deal at any cost?

“I think it’s not on the agenda. I mean, whoever thinks that now we will stop the war, and Sinwar will send our kidnappers home with a side on their way, is disconnected from reality. The big story is that even if the State of Israel now comes and says I’m stopping the war, I don’t believe that These murderers will release our kidnappers. I think that in the media, in other studios, Netanyahu has been consistently turned into a refusenik and the real refusenik is Yahya Sinwar.

Even American officials in the Biden administration say this. Therefore, in my opinion, the moves of the government, of exerting pressure in order to return the abductees, or to get improved conditions, especially the story of staying in the Philadelphia axis, to strangle Gaza from this direction as well – these are necessary moves.

Of course, the destruction of the entire top of Hezbollah is also a move that is required in order to show our enemy in Gaza that he is left alone. And so, with great regret, I say that when there really is a deal on the table, with certain conditions, then we can have an opinion. Right now, it’s just something that’s hard to relate to. And of course, this is one of the goals of the war, and it is one of the wishes of every Israeli’s heart in my estimation.”

Is Prime Minister Netanyahu responsible for the October 7 default?

“No. The prime minister, like every prime minister in any country, as soon as something happens – obviously he is the head, he is the head of the state, obviously in the end everything is run under him. But there was an army here, on the seventh of October, that thought it was running the country. We saw incidents of refusal here, It is impossible to ignore the discourse in connection with the seventh of October, and to disconnect the matter of refusals.

Regarding the refusals, there was a feeling here that the political level is irrelevant to the security conduct in the State of Israel. I mean, there is an army, it decides on the conduct, it manages things, and the political echelon does not need to be updated and the end of the seven in October is proof of this.

This story of reluctance was not dealt with comprehensively in the army. Thus a simple situation was created, that the military rank, within the whole conception, within the whole feeling of superiority that the command had, they did not know what was right, which warnings were relevant and correct.

I mean, there were warnings, but they decided what was right and what was wrong. They also decided not to update the Prime Minister or to update him only with their theories and also not to wake him up on the night of October 6th to 7th.

I have no doubt that if there was one phone for the prime minister, we would be in a completely different place. We cannot predict what would have happened, but I have no doubt that we would have been in a completely different place. We saw quite a few moves that Netanyahu was in the cockpit in the last war and how they were conducted. As soon as Netanyahu is involved, things go differently.”

Along with this, it is important to note that Defense Minister Yoav Galant called on Prime Minister Netanyahu to stop the legal reform legislation on the grounds that there are many consequences to this at the height of a sensitive security period during which a number of attacks were recorded. According to him, the legal reform poses a danger to the security of the country. In response to this, he decided Netanyahu to fire Gallant from his senior position.

“There are always warnings in the State of Israel. By the way, I don’t think that the reform is what brought us the disaster. There was no concrete warning from the security establishment that Hamas intended to carry out some kind of action. Just the opposite, we received information that Hamas was deterred, so I have no doubt that if there had been a concrete warning , then Netanyahu would have been required otherwise.