Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Channel 14 presenter Yinon Magal for calling Yashar party chairman Gadi Eisenkot a "monkey" and accused the opposition of failing to condemn similar insults against Likud voters during an interview with Radio North on Sunday.
"That is a highly inappropriate remark, and I condemn it," Netanyahu said, referring to Magal's comments about the former IDF chief of staff.
However, the prime minister also criticized what he described as a double standard in the treatment of his political supporters, calling on Eisenkot to condemn derogatory remarks directed at Likud voters.
"I would be happy if Gadi Eisenkot condemned all the remarks by Gali Albin and others about Likud supporters being chimpanzees and baboons. It is inappropriate.”
Magal made the comments during a Saturday evening broadcast of Channel 14's political talk show The Patriots, accusing Eisenkot of serving as a figurehead for an Ashkenazi political elite. He also claimed that Eisenkot's campaign manager, Ronen Manelis, was directing him behind the scenes.
Netanyahu criticizes insults against Likud voters
Eisenkot responded to Magal's remarks by condemning the language and suggesting someone else was behind the presenter's comments, without identifying them.
Asked about the resurgence of ethnic divisions in Israeli political discourse, Netanyahu acknowledged that such rhetoric remained prevalent, while arguing that it was disproportionately directed at his supporters.
"We haven't escaped it, even though Yinon said something [Saturday] that he should not have said. But every day I hear the condescension, patronizing attitude, and contempt toward Likud voters, who are called monkeys, baboons, and chimpanzees."
"I wish this were a one-time phenomenon. It happens every day, and almost all of it is directed at Likud voters," he added.
Netanyahu then turned to accusations directed at him personally, criticizing Eisenkot for what he described as a failure to condemn the use of the word "traitor" against the prime minister.
"Every single day, they accuse me, the prime minister of Israel, who has dedicated his life to the country, risked his life for the country, and continues to dedicate his life to the country, and they call me a traitor," Netanyahu said.
The prime minister argued that such rhetoric should have disappeared from Israeli political discourse following the 1995 assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.
"I stood at demonstrations even before Rabin's assassination and said that he was not a traitor, that he was mistaken. But I am called a traitor on an hourly basis. Does Gadi condemn that? Gadi Eisenkot not only fails to condemn it, he personally uses it against me," Netanyahu said.
Ben-Gvir defends Magal, rejects racism accusations
Ben-Gvir came to Magal's defense in a post on X on Sunday, arguing that the presenter's remarks had been taken out of context and that accusations of racism against him were unfounded.
"I have known Yinon Magal for a long time. We have had quite a few conversations, both professional and personal, and I can say unequivocally: Trying to portray him as a racist and a bigot is simply ridiculous," Ben-Gvir wrote.
The national security minister recalled that Magal had given him a platform early in his political career, at a time when other media outlets were unwilling to do so.
"Yinon was among the few and the first to give me a microphone back then, when others shut me out. And he knows very well that I am a proud Mizrahi, with a mother from the Kurdish Quarter and a father who grew up near Mahane Yehuda Market!"
Ben-Gvir maintained that Magal's use of the word "monkey" was intended as a political characterization of Eisenkot rather than an ethnic insult.
"It is clear to everyone that Yinon used the term 'monkey' in a political context, meaning, according to him, a puppet candidate being promoted by others. To turn that into a racist statement against Mizrahim is a complete distortion of what was said."
"I am Mizrahi, and proudly so! And I am the last person who would suspect Yinon Magal of seeing me or other Mizrahim as 'monkeys.'"
Ben-Gvir also defended Netanyahu against accusations of ethnic prejudice, citing his experience working alongside the prime minister.
"It is exactly like the attempt to pin this on the prime minister. Bibi has never mistreated me or anyone else on ethnic grounds. I sat with him in the inner cabinet for two and a half years, and he never made a remark or displayed an attitude based on ethnicity."
The minister called on those criticizing Magal and Netanyahu to reconsider their interpretation of the presenter's remarks.
"So, to everyone rushing to label Yinon and attack Bibi, you should stop, listen to what was actually said, and look in the mirror. Not every remark is racism."
He concluded with a message of encouragement to Magal: "Yinon, don't let the noise silence you."