Channel 14 censored the transgender singer Dana International's segment in the torch lighting ceremony broadcast on Independence Day evening (4/30). The channel, owned by Yitzhak Mirilashvili, son of oligarch Michael Mirilashvili, is known as a propaganda tool serving Netanyahu's government but is also characterized by a generally anti-liberal approach and LGBTQ-phobia.

The channel refused to comment, but channel employee Shalom Kalfon tweeted in response to The Seventh Eye's publication about the censorship: "Good job, Channel 14." Viewers, however, seemed less aligned with the channel's hatred of others: during the minutes the channel boycotted the ceremony segment, viewership dropped by 30%.

Dana International Cohen is an Israeli singer and actress who achieved success in Israel and worldwide and an LGBTQ icon. She is the first transgender singer to participate in Eurovision, winning first place with the song "Diva" (1998). She is also the first openly LGBTQ woman in Israel to win the title of Singer of the Year. This year, she was chosen to light a torch at the official Independence Day ceremony.

The choice of a transgender person sparked opposition among dark forces in Israeli society. Rabbis associated with the Kookist stream (whose institutions include Har Hamor Yeshiva, Noam party and the Bnei David preparatory Yeshiva) published a hate letter against International and against the Arab singer and actress Nasreen Qadri, who was also chosen to light a torch.

The rabbis, including the head of Har Hamor Yeshiva Tzvi Tau, Shlomo Aviner, Tzvi Kostiner, Dov Lior, Yosef Kelner, and the head of the Bnei David preparatory Yigal Levinstein, declared that in their opinion, being transgender is inhuman and abnormal, and that transgender identity is a Declaration of war against health, humanity and Jewish nationality.

The abhorrent letter received many condemnations, but it seems that it found an echo at least on Channel 14. The channel cut the broadcast of the recorded ceremony (not broadcasted live due to fires raging west of Jerusalem) and switched to current affairs updates with presenter Maggie Tabibi in their "news" studio. Additionally, they censored International's name from the article on their website about the torch lighters.

The broadcast interruption occurred several minutes before the "Israeli Soundtrack" category in the ceremony, in which International lit torches alongside singers Micha Shitrit and Zahava Ben. Immediately after this segment, when the ceremony hosts began introducing the torch lighters in the next category, the broadcast of the ceremony resumed on Channel 14.

While on other channels, breaking news about the fires was brief, both due to the lack of substantial updates and to not miss the high-rated ceremony broadcast, Channel 14 took a break of no less than 12 minutes, which ended after International left the stage.

Hatred and Division

As mentioned, this is not unusual behavior for Channel 14. A concentration of content against LGBTQ rights (and transgender people in particular) and secularism can be found in the channel's printed magazine ("Magazine 14"). The cover story in the May 2022 issue was "LGBTQ-istan: How Radical Left Organizations Impose the LGBTQ Religion on the State of Israel," and the March 2023 issue featured "Child Abuse: How Children in Israel Are Being Directed to Chemical Castration and Organ Removal."

Typical responses to the latter publication were "The article is full of errors and lies and is intended to spread panic, incite against the transgender community, and set back years of struggle" (Mako), "When we thought Channel 14 couldn't further inflame hatred and division in society, we discovered that even when it comes to the possibility of direct harm to human life - all means are kosher" (Walla), "Channel 14 magazine published a dubious cover story full of lies against the transgender spectrum and gender adaptation processes" (Time Out).

Channel presenters such as Shimon Riklin, Itamar Fleischman, and Erel Segal have also spoken out against transgender people and what they call "progress," using terms such as "insanity," "delusion," "tragedy," and so on.

Last year, the channel omitted from its coverage of the murder of police officer Adir Kadosh in a terrorist attack the fact that he was about to marry his partner, Eddie Levy.

"There is no limit to how low they have sunk," the LGBTQ Association responded at the time. "Even before the funeral of Adir Kadosh z"l, the brave police officer who fell in the line of duty, Channel 14, in a disgraceful and repulsive move, chose to delete the mention of his partner from the news, thereby erasing an entire community. While the future of Kadosh's partner collapses before his eyes, Channel 14 erases his existence."

Now, too, the Association addressed this in response to the censorship of International on Channel 14: "The complete erasure of Dana International from the torch lighting broadcast on Channel 14 is not an accident – it's an agenda. Last time it was the fiancé of Adir Kadosh z"l, an Israeli hero who fell in battle, whom Channel 14 chose to make disappear with various excuses. This time they didn't even bother to think of an excuse.

"This indicates an official and orderly policy: Channel 14 has decided to exclude the LGBTQ community from Israeli public life deliberately. Even on Memorial Day or Independence Day, and in the most national of ceremonies, they do not hesitate to cancel us. And let's not forget that this is a channel established under the license conditions of a Jewish 'Heritage' channel."

The Association added that they will appeal to the Second Authority Council demanding an investigation into whether Channel 14, whose owners' representative in management is Netanel Siman Tov, has violated its license conditions.

The organization Havruta, which represents religious LGBTQ individuals, also issued a statement: "Independence Day is a holiday of national pride, but Channel 14 decided to commit an act of incitement, and in a clearly anti-Jewish move decided to erase Dana International from the torch lighting ceremony. She is not mentioned in the written report on the site, and during the live broadcast of the ceremony, the channel preferred to update regarding fires during the lighting.

"Havruta reminds of the obvious - that transgender women and men are part of the people of Israel in particular and the human race in general, and erasure will not eliminate our community. We have already gone through days when they erased us - it didn't work and it doesn't frighten us. Havruta also condemns this terrible and shameful act by Channel 14 specifically on Independence Day, the desecration of God's name and the transgression of 'Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart' specifically on a day of unity, and is willing to connect the offenders with Dana for the purpose of apology and request for forgiveness, since for sins between man and his fellow man, even Yom Kippur does not atone."

Yinon Magal, a popular presenter on the channel, has previously addressed another aspect of the phenomenon that characterizes the channel: opposition to equal rights for women. He proudly said, "I am primitive, I am anachronistic, I am a baboon."

Tolerance and Love of Humanity

In her speech at the torch lighting ceremony that was censored by Channel 14, International praised the tolerance and love of humanity of Israelis, who made her dream of being a singer come true.

"I raise this torch in honor of the people of Israel, my beautiful people who have tolerance, openness, and love of humanity planted in their hearts, the people who fulfilled my childhood dream - to be a singer," said International. "In honor of our commitment as a society to eradicate fear of the different and in honor of the future generation, the children of tomorrow. In your honor, who were born into an imperfect world, and still have innocence, and still have the courage to love. The dream still burns in your hearts.

"We, the adults, tried to light a light for you. We fought, we fell, we got up again - but we didn't always succeed. Now I pass the torch to you. This fire - it is in your hands. In honor of the world you will create - where light will conquer darkness. In honor of a language you will invent, in which there will be no place for hatred. Because you - you are our hope. Be the light, be the new song. I light this torch with love and prayer that your belief that things can be different will not be extinguished. For beloved is man who was created in the image. And for the glory of the State of Israel."