After day of debates, Channel 12 report on Meshi-Zahav will air

The network was in the midst of preparing an investigative program for the Thursday night news about the sexual assault allegations facing Meshi-Zahav when the news broke of his attempted suicide.

APRIL 22, 2021 19:31

Updated: APRIL 22, 2021 19:32

Yehuda Meshi Zahav, Chairman Israel's Zaka rescue unit poses for a picture outside his mother shiva, in the Ultra orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim, Jerusalem, January 19, 2021. (photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH 90) — Yehuda Meshi Zahav, Chairman Israel's Zaka rescue unit poses for a picture outside his mother shiva, in the Ultra orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim, Jerusalem, January 19, 2021.

(photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH 90)

Channel 12 announced on Thursday that its in-depth investigative program about the sexual assault allegations against Meshi-Zahav will air as planned.

The network was in the midst of preparing an investigative program for the Thursday night news about the sexual assault allegations facing Meshi-Zahav when the news broke of his attempted suicide.

N12 told The Jerusalem Post earlier on Thursday that it had yet to make a decision as to whether or not it will run the program as planned.

Public figures questioned the moral imperative of airing the program in light of Meshi-Zahav's current precarious medical state.

Medical reports from Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem indicate that he is currently in critical condition, but doctors have managed to stabilize him, adding that they will only have conclusive answers tomorrow.

Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, head of the Ethics Center at the Tzohar Rabbinical Organization, called on Channel 12 to cancel the program in light of today's developments.

"Investigations about injustices are an essential action designed to increase the moral path of society," he said.

"But the broadcasting of Uvda [Fact] tonight, while the person the interrogation is about is fighting for his life, would be an immoral and insensitive step, and therefore should not be broadcast."

The Union of Journalists in Israel said it "stood with the investigating journalists who are doing a clean, professional job, for the sake of public interest and knowledge," N12 reported.

"They are doing their jobs while remaining strongly within the bounds of correct ethical behavior."

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The program will air on Channel 12 at approximately 9:30 on Thursday night, after the main broadcast.