In 2024, Channel 14 established its position as the second most-watched channel in Israel (according to the ratings data from the Ratings Committee). Unlike the public broadcaster Channel 11 and the commercial channels Keshet 12 and Reshet 13, Channel 14, owned by the ultra-Orthodox billionaire Yitzhak Mirilashvili, is an explicit propaganda channel serving one politician - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Over the years, while the channel spread the Prime Minister's propaganda, alongside incitement, conspiracy theories, and fake news, Netanyahu's government worked to assist it financially.
Due to the channel's nature, it was decided not to include its programs in the annual Representation Index summaries. However, given the channel's popularity and its extreme political stance, it is nevertheless interesting to examine how much it gives voice to speakers from Arab society in Israel.
Previous targeted examinations conducted as part of The Representation Index found that Channel 14 led incitement against Arab society in Israel during the first month after the Hamas attack on October 7, and notably ignored the fact that there were also Bedouins among those kidnapped by Hamas.
Now, an examination of the two main and popular programs on Channel 14, The Main News Broadcast and The Patriots, reveals that Channel 14 almost completely excludes Arab society. In The Patriots, only 0.8% of speakers were from Arab society in Israel, while in The Main News Broadcast, the figure was even lower - 0.5%.
During 2024, approximately 7,800 speakers appeared on Channel 14's Main News Broadcast, only 39 of whom were Arabs. Compared to the main news broadcasts on other television channels, Channel 14's broadcast ranks last, with an even lower representation rate than the already embarrassing rates of Keshet 12 and Reshet 13 news broadcasts.
Channel 14's main broadcast is presented by Maggie Tabibi. The editor of the broadcast in the first months of the year was Moshe Harush, who was later replaced by Yehonatan Weiss. Yoram Cohen heads Channel 14's "News Department."
Unusually, Channel 14 has a current affairs program that is even more popular than the main news broadcast, The Patriots, hosted by Yinon Magal. In 2024, the program was edited by Hagai Siman-Tov and Avi Itzkovich.
Out of approximately 1,850 speakers who appeared on The Patriots since the beginning of the year (including pundits and those who appeared in video segments during the program), only 15 were from Arab society in Israel. Of those 15, almost all appeared in short video clips that were referenced by the panel participants. Only one appeared in The Patriots studio in person, and it was actually someone who does not represent the overwhelming majority of Arab society in Israel in any way: Hasbara activist Yosef Haddad.
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The Representation Index is an ongoing project since 2016, in partnership with the Sikkuy-Aufoq NGO and together with Ifat Media Research, regularly examining the percentage of representation of the Arab population in news and current affairs programs on Israel's main channels.
The index examines all news and current affairs programs on television channels Kan 11, Keshet 12, and Reshet 13, as well as on radio networks Kan Bet and Galei Tzahal. These mainstream media outlets in the State of Israel are supposed to reflect the entire Israeli population in their broadcasts, whether by law or by journalistic professionalism. Despite this, they disproportionately prefer to focus on Jewish citizens and present to their viewers a country almost completely devoid of Arab citizens.
This preference creates a distorted reality for viewers and listeners. A side effect of this is the deepening of the cognitive separation between Jewish and non-Jewish citizens of Israel. The Representation Index was created to encourage decision-makers in the media, journalists, editors, and hosts of news and current affairs programs to step out of their comfort zone and change this trend.