Likud MK Sa'ar failed to prevent broadcast of TV series on Netanyahu
Sa’ar approached Telecom News director-general Avi Weiss about the matter directly, but he refused to remove the series from the evening lineup.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFGideon Saar(photo credit: Courtesy)
Knesset member and main Likud primaries challenger Gideon Sa'ar, through his lawyer, urgently requested the postponement of a two-week-long miniseries called Days of Benjamin, which focuses on the career of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a report by The Jerusalem Post's sister publication, Maariv. The series is expected to start being broadcast on the evening of Sunday, December 15 on Telecom News. Each episode of the series will run for more than two hours.In his appeal to Telecom News, MK Sa’ar stressed that broadcasting the four-episode series on the prime minister is unreasonable and inappropriate because it seriously violates the principle of electoral equality in the lead-up to the Likud primaries, scheduled for December 26. Sa’ar’s lawyer further claimed that it is unfair due to the amount of exposure it will give the prime minister.Sa’ar approached Telecom News director-general Avi Weiss about the matter directly, but he refused to remove the series from the evening lineup.In response to the refusal, Sa’ar's lawyer argued that “dedicating valuable broadcast hours while watching a series that deals with only one candidate, and every few days before such a fateful election campaign, is an unusual, strange and even unacceptable event."The battle for the Likud leadership has been heating up in recent days, as polling for the primaries shows a tightening race between incumbent leader Netanyahu and rival Sa’ar, who recently accused the prime minister of reneging on Likud policy proposals, in addition to his inability thus far to form a government after the previous two elections in April and September.
